The Good Old Days
by PTenigma
Summary: Takes place after small sacrifices. Rated T for some language. House ignores wilson and wilson gets hurt.  Hurt!Wilson and Hurt!House  H/W Frindship now, but may lead to mild slash.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own House or any part of the show or characters storyline, etc. The show has been on a little break so I had to write something of my own to keep myself entertained. As the show comes on I am sure that this will become AU, but it's the direction I would have liked it to go in. I know it wouldn't but one can dream. I wanted to get this out before the show started again. I apologize for any errors. Here is my little attempt to keep myself entertained while waiting for the new episodes...I hope you enjoy it and that you will review it. _

Wilson was upset. He sat on his couch and wondered how the evening could have gone so wrong. He had proposed to Sam. Everything had seemed so perfect, but then disaster had struck. That was not the reaction that he was expecting. He was stunned. But then he returned from the wedding to find Sam packing. He couldn't believe that he had been so wrong about everything. House had been right yet again regarding his love life. At some point he figured he should actually start listening to his best friend and maybe he wouldn't end up in this position so often. At least this time it was before the wedding.

He didn't want to stay in the loft. He was lonely and hurt. He just wanted to get drunk and forget that this evening had even happened. He wanted to get out. There were too many memories here. He didn't know where he should go. Then he remembered House was probably alone anyway since he was pretty sure that he was still fighting with Cuddy. He figured he would go there. They could mindlessly watch TV and get drunk. Just like the good old days he thought as a smile spread on his face. He was actually happy. His life was in shambles, but the thought of a night with his best friend like it used to be was enough for right now. He started to get ready. He cleaned up the house and finished the dishes. He went to the fridge and took the milk off the door and put it back in the fridge happy that he would not have to do that again.

He boxed up what was left of Sam's stuff and went to put it in the extra bedroom. He got to the door and he stopped. That was House's room. He didn't want her stuff to be in there anymore. It just didn't seem right. He could still picture House on the bed and he could still picture him sneaking down to use his bathroom that had the tub so that he could soak his leg. That was it. He turned around and put the box in the hall closet so that it would be ready to ship to her when she asked for it. As far as he was concerned he was done with her and although he still thought that he loved her, he knew it was over for good.

He looked around the apartment. It now looked pretty much how it did when House and he shared it, with the exception of a few decorating changes that Sam had made. Wilson wasn't that fussy. He thought that they were fine. He thought that maybe when House came back, he'd want to change them, but for now he figured they were fine. He wasn't really into decorating anyway. The whole decorating challenge from Houses had demonstrated that pretty well.

He stopped in his tracks. He couldn't believe he just thought that. Without a second thought, he already had House moved back in and they were back to their old routine. Then reality hit him. House was with Cuddy now. He wouldn't be moving back in. House was in a relationship. It was strange. It hadn't been this way for so long. Not since Stacy and that was before the infarction. Everything had changed since then. Everything had been different. Well Cuddy and House were fighting anyway, so who knew. Maybe this wasn't a forever thing. He hoped deep down that it would last. He hoped his friend would find happiness, but that little selfish part of him wanted his best friend back. He wanted him for himself. He didn't want to share him. He wanted things the way they were. With that he thought about the evening ahead, smiled again and shut the door.

He drove over to House's apartment and knocked on the door. He walked in and said simply "Sam left me." The conversation deteriorated from there. Next thing he knew he was out in the hall behind a closed door and was stunned for the second time in one night. He wondered what the hell just happened. He went to House's apartment just like he had done many times before except this time Cuddy was coming over. Apparently they had made up. House had managed to fix his relationship using the advice that he had given him. Now House was going to have makeup sex. He had ruined his own relationship and was going to be alone. House was going to be in a relationship with a woman and he was going to be alone. House had never let a woman come between their relationship before. Not even Stacy back when they were living together. Now Cuddy though. Damn. What had happened to his life. How had he messed it up so bad that the one person that had always been there for him no matter what was even turning his back on him.

He knew that House knew he was upset. He knew that House knew that he wanted to get drunk and forget what had happened, but he chose her. House had chosen Cuddy over him. He had not expected that. How could he do that to him. He decided to go to the bar. He was determined to get drunk with or without House. This night kept getting worse and he was determined to just forget it.

He drove for a few blocks and turned into the first bar that he saw. He recognized it vaguely from picking House up here after he had mixed a few too many beers with his Vicodin back in the day. He wondered who would pick him up if he had too much to drink. He figured he'd have to call a cab. He didn't think that House would appreciate having to stop his evening with Cuddy to drag his sorry ass home. So he decided to have just enough so that he could feel good, but not too much that he couldn't sober up and drive home. He sat at the bar and ordered his first beer. The bar is relatively empty as it is a pretty rainy, foggy night out. Not ideal weather for having to drive home after a few drinks he thought. He again cautioned himself that he wasn't going to get completely wasted. He started drinking his beer and got lost in his thoughts. He was interrupted by the bartender asking him if he wanted another. He stopped and looked at the bottle slightly bewildered that he had already finished it. Sure he told the bar tender. The bar tender started conversation with him telling him that he looked familiar, but that he doesn't recognize him as one of the regulars. He asked Wilson where he works. Wilson tried to be friendly and was happy that someone was talking to him so he told him that he was a doctor at PPTH. The bartender said he hadn't been there as a patient or even as a visitor in over 10 years so it wasn't from there. Wilson didn't want to stop talking and wanted to please the bartender so he started to explain that while he didn't necessarily frequent this bar he had picked up his friend here when he had been in no condition to drive many times over the years.

The bartender replied "We get a lot of that. Your friend is lucky to have a good friend like you who would come and get him. Usually we just end up calling a cab or the poor suckers walk home."

Wilson finished another beer and the bartender silently replaced it. Wilson started with "Well he certainly doesn't act like he is very lucky or even happy that I am his friend. He can be pretty awful sometimes."

"Well, why are you still his friend"

"We've been through so much together. I've been divorced a few times well actually 3 times and he was always there for me after each breakup. He was always there. Well always... until tonight." Wilson confessed.

"You got divorced tonight?" the bartender asked.

"NO, but I proposed to my girlfriend who also happens to be my first ex. She then proceeded to walk out on me. I went to his place and he was too busy trying to patch things up with his girlfriend that he basically threw me out. I didn't know where else to go. He's really the only one who has always stuck by me."

"You said that he was trying to patch things up? Is he really serious about his girlfriend? I hope so if he was willing to bail on his best friend."

"Well it's all a little tricky. My friend is also a doctor and his girlfriend is our boss. We have all been friends for a while, but just recently they started dating. I was thrilled for him that he was happy. He hasn't really had a real relationship in many years. You see he had an accident that left him with a permanent disability and he is very self-conscious of it. He's in constant pain and has to use a cane. That's part of why he's always such an ass. If he doesn't let people get close, he can't get hurt when they leave. But with us it was different. He knows that I am there for him no matter how rotten he treats me. I am the one constant in his life. Well until he got into this relationship. Now I don't really know where I fit in anymore. I guess I can't fault him for choosing her over me, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't still suck." Wilson had finished another couple of beers during the story. He was getting freer with the information now.

The bartender was now trying to place his friend as he was pretty sure that he remembered a fellow that fit this description. "Wait... I think I know your friend. He hasn't been in a while, but I remember a real ornery fellow who would come here. He had a cane, he was a tall thin guy. He was a doctor too. He was always telling people that. He usually drank alone. He was always popping pills too. It made me nervous. I thought for sure he would od right here in the bar. I took his keys on many occasions. So you must have been the one that would pick him up at all hours of the night. You really are a good friend. He's stupid to not respect that."

"So you know House. Sorry if he did anything to offend you."

"Man you don't have to apologize for him. I see a lot of things here. I don't take too much of it personally. Anyway, I do remember him. I had to stop a fight in here one night where he was about to get pounded for mouthing off to someone. As much as I thought that he deserved it, I didn't figure it would be a fair fight with him being disabled and all."

"Yep, that sounds like House. Anyway, he wasn't always like that, but like I said, he's in constant pain. You haven't seen him in a while because he did a stint in rehab to kick the pills. He's better now, but still has the pain and is still an ass most of the time, but has been pretending to be better now that he is dating the boss."

"So why do you need a friend like that anyway. Seems like a lot of baggage. Don't take this the wrong way, but I kink of thought that you would do ok with the ladies. "

"Well yes, but I can't seem to make the relationships work. I always end up getting divorced. I thought I had the real thing again, but I was wrong. House knew it too. He told me when we first got back together that she was bad news and hadn't really changed, but I didn't listen to him. I guess I was just trying to get over my last girlfriend who died in a bus crash. She had been on the bus with House after she had picked him up because he was at a bar drunk and I was at work. "

"Wow this guy is some piece of work. He should be worshiping the ground you walk on, not blowing you off."

Wilson who was usually House's biggest defender was starting to agree with the guy. He couldn't count on House to be there for him. He never could. Not really. The bartender noticed that Wilson was starting to slur his words and when he got up to use the bathroom, that his gait was not great. He was past driving home. He grabbed Wilson's keys from the bar.

Wilson returned and decided it was time for him to go home as he was getting pretty tired and he didn't want to have to fall asleep behind the wheel. He went to get back on the bar stool, but missed and crashed into the other stools. He managed to get himself righted.

"Maybe now would be a good time to test that relationship and call in a favor. Call your friend and ask him to come and drag your drunk ass home as you are probably not in the right state to be driving anymore."

I can't. I am sure that he wouldn't even answer the phone.

Well it's him or a cab. Let me know what you decide and I hope things start to look up for you. You seem like a pretty nice guy.

He decides to call House. He grabbed the phone from the bartender and dialed. It rang and rang and then went to voicemail. Great...he thought. He sat there for a minute and then realized that maybe House didn't answer because he didn't recognize the number so he pulled out his cell phone and called again. Straight to voicemail this time. Great he must have shut his phone off. He looked in his wallet and realized he wouldn't have enough money for a cab, so he decided to swallow his pride and call Cuddy's phone. He knew she was with him. Hers went to voicemail too, but it rang first so he knew that hers was at least on probably so the sitter could reach her if she needed. He left a short message. This is Wilson, Please have House call me, I need to talk to him. Sorry for the interruption. He decided to try House again. This time he left a message. House, I'm drunk. I don't have enough money for a cab. I need you to pick me up. I'm at the bar near your house, the one that I picked you up from a bunch of times before you went to Mayfield. My car is parked right in the front. I'll wait for you outside. Thanks.

Wilson took the money from his wallet and paid his tab. He said goodnight to the bartender after telling him that he had gotten a ride. He was too embarrassed to tell the bartender that House wasn't coming and that he didn't have money for a cab. He sat down and waited out of eyesight of the bar for House or Cuddy to call back..

Time passed and he thought he had sobered up a little. The bar was closing soon and he decided he should head home. He thought that he could walk to the nearest ATM and get some cash and then he could call a cab and get home. He remembered seeing a bank on the last corner. He checked to make sure that he had his phone and set off. He wasn't thinking clearly and it was still pretty foggy so he went slowly thankful for the sidewalks so that he didn't have to walk along the street. He was lost in his thoughts when he thought he saw the lights from the bank sign on the other side of the street. He stepped off the curb to cross the street and then he heard yelling and then nothing.

He woke up to the most severe pain he had ever felt. He was on the ground. Well how the hell did that happen he wondered. He went to push up to stand and realized that he couldn't move. Damn. now what. He tried to look around, but couldn't move his neck without immediate pain searing through his body. He tried to calm himself down. He felt around with his right hand and felt what he figured was grass. Ok, well at least he wasn't in the street. That had to be good for something. Now he thought of his phone. His right hand was not working right and he couldn't seem to move his left. He painfully reached for it and used voice dialing to call House. The phone rang. Voicemail. Great. He remembered Cuddy's phone was on and decided to call her. He was going to be mortified to explain this to her, but he felt that the situation was pretty dire. He hoped he could get House on the phone. Nope. It rang and rang and went to voicemail. He hung up and tried again. This time he heard a familiar voice.

"Christ Wilson, can't we spend one night apart without you stalking me? This had better be..."

Wilson mustered up all the strength that he could to make his voice understandable, but it still didn't sound right to him. "Greg...I'm hurt"

"Yes, I know. Sam left you and you are obviously drunk, but I am not leaving my nice warm bed to come and get you."

Beep ... Beep ...Wilson heard the beeping which meant that the battery on his phone about to quit. He closed his eyes and hoped that House would come.

_Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be up soon. I just want to re-read it and then I will put it up sometime tomorrow I hope. Don't forget to review please_.


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not own House or any part of the show or characters storyline, etc. The show has been on a little break so I had to write something of my own to keep myself entertained. As the show comes on I am sure that this will become AU, but it's the direction I would have liked it to go in. I know it won't, but one can dream :) I wanted to get this out before the show started again. I apologize for any errors. Here is my little attempt to keep myself entertained while waiting for the new episodes...I hope you enjoy it and that you will review it._

House heard the door close behind Wilson and went to straighten up a little. He didn't want to hear Cuddy yell about the mess or risk getting her annoyed so that he wouldn't get to have his makeup sex. He had been looking forward to it since she had called to say that she got a sitter and was on her way over. He finally sat down on the couch and stretched out his leg and started to massage it at the same time he took a couple ibuprofen. His leg had just started acting up a little more than he liked and didn't want anything to mess with this evening. He didn't want to take pills in front of Cuddy as she would question whether he really needed them or if he could go without them for the evening and see how he felt in the morning. She was always worried about him taking too much of anything. He thought that she would be happy that he wasn't taking the Vicodin, but now that they were together she was more into micromanaging his health then ever before. He layed back and waited for them to take hold of the pain while he massaged his leg. He turned on the heating pad that he now leaves on the couch for just such times and felt the heat engulf his leg. He couldn't remember the last time since the crane accident that it had been bothering him like thins, but then he at least had a reason. He hadn't over taxed it at the wedding or anything so there wasn't really a good explaination. Either way, it hurt and he wanted it to stop before Cuddy got there.

He thought about Wilson and wondered what he was going to do. He figured he'd probably go home have some beers and do paperwork that he had put off while he was reviewing Sam's files. Wilson was so reliable. He felt a pang of guilt when he thought about tossing him out for Cuddy. He didn't have too much time to think about it though. He heard a knock at the door. He turned off the heating pad and tucked it back out of sight once he was sure that it was cooling down. He stood up. The leg didn't feel right. He decided to yell to her that he was coming, but that the door was open so she could just come in. That way she didn't think that he couldn't be bothered to get up, but gave her the OK to come in without waiting for him. He heard the knob turn and was relieved that he wouldn't have to walk to the door. He wanted to save his leg for this evening. She came in and put down her bag on the couch. He sat down and she sat next to him. He was relieved that she didn't want to cook or anything and would be happy on the couch for the time being. She had said that she was tired, but that they could watch some TV before going to bed if he wanted. They turned on the TV, but Cuddy almost immediately started to nod off. He nudged her and suggested they go to the bedroom. He told her she could go ahead and get changed and that he would lock up and be in shortly. She agreed. He took his time taking care of the nightly routine and then stopped to rest and collect himself before going into the bedroom. She was already in the bed when he got there. His phone rang, he looked at it and ignored it.

"Who was that at this hour?" she asked.

"Wilson. Sam and he broke up tonight. He came over earlier, but I told him that we already had plans. He probably just wants to tease me for being so whipped. Whatever it is can wait till morning."

"Are you sure? It's not like Wilson to call at this hour is it?" She asked

"Yep and Yep. He's a big boy now. Able to stay home alone without a babysitter and everything." He replied and turned his phone off.

Cuddy looked at hers and told him "I have to leave mine on in case the sitter calls. Sorry. I can put it on vibrate though."

"That's fine."

Before she had a chance to put it on vibrate, her phone rang. "Do you need to answer that?" House asked her.

She replied without looking at it, "no it isn't the sitter's cell phone or my home phone ringtones so it can wait untill morning also." She reached over and swiched it to vibrate.

House started nuzzling her on the neck and was rubbing her back. He happened to glance at her phone and noticed the number on the front screeen was that of none other than Wilson. Now his head was racing...why couldn't he just leave them alone. Why couldn't he let him have some happiness. He had sat back during all of Wilson's women. Why did he have to keep bothering them. He just wanted to get to the sex and then to sleep. Wilson would have to wait. They finished and Cuddy had drifted off to sleep rather quickly. House was awake since his leg was acting up. He was rubbing it, but the pain was still there.

He heard her phone vibrating on the table and reached over to get it. He was sure he could take care of whatever the problem was without having to wake her. He was hoping for morning sex so he wanted to make sure that she got her rest. By the time he reached it, it had stopped vibrating. He turned it over and saw the caller ID. He let out a sigh as it started to vibrate again in his hand. It was Wilson again. He n. He got ready to rip Wilson a new one as he answered the phone.

"Jesus Wilson, can't we spend one night apart without you stalking me?This had better be..." he started.

He didn't even get the sentnce out when he was cut off by Wilson.

"Greg...I'm hurt" a voice that resembled Wilson's replied.

"Yes, I know. Sam left you and you are obviously drunk, but I am not leaving my nice warm bed to come and get you."

Then House heard Beep ... Beep ... in his ear.

"Call a" House started to tell him to take a cab, but then froze mid sentence. His stomach sank and he thought that he was gonig to be sick. WIlson never uses his first name. Shit. Something is wrong. Something bad... Damn it.

"Damn it where are you? Wiison... Wilson...are you there...I'm coming...Don't hang up." But the call had already been disconnected. He remembered the beeps and realized Wilson's battery must have died. Shit. Now what am I going to do? He got out of bed quickly, too quickly and succeeded in falling back on the bed. He stopped himself from screaming out, not caring if he woke Cuddy, but not willing to give into the pain when Wilson was in trouble. He was pretty sure that she was already awake anyway since he had been yelling in the phone to Wilson.  
Cuddy turned to him and asked what all the racket was about.

He yelled at her "I'm going to find WIlson. He's hurt and I don't know where he is, but something is really wrong. I have to find him."

"What's wrong with him. How do you know that he's hurt. What did he say? Maybe you misunderstood." She said half trying to figure out what was going on and half trying to calm House down as she could see that he was panicking.

"He called me Greg. He never calls me Greg." was all that he said to her.

"So what. He called you by your name. I'm pretty sure there is no crime in that. I call you by your first name and you don't send out a search party for me." She was beginning to think that House was being slightly paranoid.

"It's different. It's...nevermind you wouldn' t understand, anyway. It was the tone of his voice. It wasn't good. I need to find him. He's hurt. I don't know how bad, but bad enough for him to call your phone to try to find me."

"That was him calling me. He doesn't usually call my cell phone unless there is an emergency with...well... with you" she finished. "And since you are here with me, I would bet that you are right. There may be something wrong."

House thought back to earlier that night when he had ignored Wilson's call and the unanswered call on Cuddy's phone. Damn. How long has he been trying to get help. He had to fight back the bile that was rising in his stomach. Then he remembered, if Wilson called there must be a number or some clue on the messages as to his location. He started with his phone and there it was. Not a great one, but a clue none the less. Wilson had picked him up at a number of bars, but he decided to go to the one that was closest first. He finished putting his shoes on, grabbed his jacket and keys and headed for the door.

"I"m coming with you" she stated.

"No, I need to go by myself." House countered.

"I"m coming. You are in no state to drive. You'll end up getting into an accident and then I'll have to admit you both. That would be something wouldn't it. My 2 best department heads both being admitted at the same time. That would fuel the gossip mill for sure." she mused.

"Lisa, stop thinking about the hospital, this is Wilson we are talking about...Wilson. Wilson who wouldn't hurt a fly. Wilson who hates to bother anyone. He has gone to great lengths to get our attention and I think we should listen. He needs help. I am going."

He got up quickly and his leg buckled again. He braced himself on the night stand and looked for his cane. Cuddy was already dressed and handed him his cane from across the room.

"I am coming whether you want me to or or not. If he really is hurt you are going to need a second set of hands. Your leg is barely holding you up. What if you have to walk to get to him. Let me help you. It's ok to lean on me at times. It's Wilson. I get it. I know what he means to you even if you won't admit it to anyone. Let's go. I'll drive. I'll pick you up out front." she said

With that she went to go get the car and House made it slowly to the front door and out to where she was parked and waiting for him.

"Where to?" she asked.

"Down the street and take a right then down 2 streets and take a left." he directed.

House's head was racing. How could he have let Wilson lay hurt somewhere allby himself for who knows how long just so he could have sex. Wasn't he himself in Wilson's shoes not too long ago when Sam and Wilson got together. Didn't he hate the wat Wilson treated him then. And now here he was doing the same thing, but this was much worse. How could he be so selfish. Damn it he thought. He better be OK. Without him I'm still all alone. Sure I have Cuddy, but how long is that going to last. How long can I keep up the charade? He was brought back to the present by Cuddy's question.

"This is where Wilson hangs out?" she asked as she pulled into the dimly lit bar. This doesn't seem like the kind of place he would frequent".

"HE doesn't. This used to be one of my favorite places to get wasted when I was still using Vicodin. He used to pick me up here alot when I was too drunk to drive home."

House made his way in the bar and found the bartender to inquire about Wilson.

"Yes, he was here. I thought that he left with you. He called you and then he went outside saying that he was waiting for his ride. He never came back in so I figured he got picked up. Here are his keys. He was in no shape to drive." the bartender answered.

"You idiot. You let him just leave. He is out there hurt somewhere. He was drunk. Why would you let him leave?" he asked.

"Hey listen. Half of the customers are drunk when they leave. I took his keys so he couldn't drive. Maybe you should ask yourself the same thing. He wouldn't have been here getting drunk if it wasn't for you."

"What do you mean? He got drunk because he got dumped."

"Well if that's what you want to believe so you can sleep at night then fine."

"What do you mean?" House demanded.

"I mean he mentioned the getting dumped part, but he talked all night about you and how upset he was for you blowing him off for some boss lady you were dating. If you had been there for him, he wouldn't have ever been here."

House turned around and limped heavily to the door. His knuckles now white while he held on to WIlsons keys like he was holding Wilson's life in his hand. He got back into the car.

He's not here. He hasn't been for a long time. The bar tender took his keys which means either he got a ride or else he went on foot.

He listened to the message again. Something about no money. He got an idea. He grabbed Lisa and told her to turn around and go back toward the house. Wilson was pretty predictable. He figured he would need money to pay for a cab and this was the closest bank. They pulled in the parking lot when in the distance he could sight of something on the sidewalk.

"Over there...Over there. I think I see something on the sidewalk."

He practically jumped out of the car. Well as much as a cripple could jump out of the car anyway. He rushed over to Wilson's side. It was Wilson.

"Shit! Cuddy call 911 and tell them we are at the bank on the corner of Main and Liberty and that they should send an ambulance. Then call the hospital and let them know that we are coming with Wilson. Then come Help me!" he yelled.


	3. Chapter 3

_Don't own House any of story, characters, plot, ideas, etc..._

_Not sure how many people enjoying this. Only a few have reviewed. To those of you who have...thank you. It keeps me motivated to get out new chapters. I am happy with it so far. Hope other people are enjoying. Sorry for any errors. They are all mine. Enjoy and review. _

House grit his teeth and knelt down the best he could on the ground next to Wilson. He hissed in pain and cursed his ruined leg. Now was not the time for that. It was never a good time, but he needed to be able to concentrate to help Wilson.

"Wilson!" he yelled.

"Wilson..." still with no answer.

"James...Jimmy...You idiot talk to me" his voice a little more desperate now.

Nothing in response. Next he went to make sure that there was a pulse. He held his breath while he was looking for it. He was sure that he had felt one, but reached for the carotid to double check. He pulled his hand back and it felt wet.

"Shit...blood" he said close to tears.

It was dark and he couldn't see Wilson that well. The blood took away the little hope he had been clinging to. He had been hoping that Wilson had just collapsed in a drunken stooper. Blood though, that changed everything. Blood meant trauma. What kind of trauma he couldn't be sure. He needed to see better. He had to figure this out. He had to see what he was dealing with.

"Cuddy...shine the low lights over here. I have to get a better look. He has a pulse, but I can't bring him around."

She did as she was asked. The light wafted over Wilson. It wasn't bright, but it gave enough light to see. House took one look. He felt the bile rise in his throat. He turned to his side and emptied his stomach. He had seen a lot of things in his years as a doctor. He had been witness to a lot of trauma. There had been many accident victims, burn victims, beatings, shootings, you name it he had seen it. But those had just been patients. Those were not his best friend. Seeing his best friend lying his own blood, unconscious was not a sight that he was used to or prepared for.

"_You ass. You did this. This is your fault. He needed you and you ignored him. You left him alone for her. For sex. It wasn't even that good. Look at him lying there probably dying because you couldn't be bothered with him... " he berrated himself. _

He was interrupted by Cuddy who had just joined him. She had just gotten close enough to take in the whole scene.

"Oh my god. House...oh my god." she cried.

For some reason that was enough to push him into doctor mode and he had to separate that this was Wilson, he had to try to save his friend's life.

"Go back to the car. Get whatever you have in there that I can use to cover him and to stop the bleeding. He's freezing and he's going to bleed to death if we don't get this under control." he told Cuddy in a voice that he barely recognized.

He started assessing the situation. First he wanted to determine where all the blood was coming from so that he could stop it. He saw blood all over his face, but that was mainly cuts, bruises, and

abrasions. One was close to his eye. House probed it gently with his long slender fingers. It would require stitches. Stitches, but not life threatening. He was talking out loud as he was going. Wilson's whole face was swollen and barely recognizable at this point. It was going to hurt like a son of a bitch, but wouldn't kill him. He continued to work his way around and down. He probed around his head. He ever so gently ran his fingers through his hair and around his skull. He felt the warm fluid. He had found blood. Wilson must have hit his head on the pavement. He was careful not to move his head as he was well aware that there may be a cervical spine injury. Cuddy had returned with various blankets and clothes, diapers and all sorts of little kid things. He made a mental note that there was one benefit to having a little brat around. He had Cuddy hold something on the cut by his eye to stop the bleeding and then on his skull while maintaining support of his spine. She was monitoring his weak vitals the best that she could as well.

He continued down his beaten bloodied body. They could hear the siren wailing in the distance. He continued unphased. It appeared that he may have dislocated his shoulder. That could wait for the ER and when his spine was stabilized to be reduced. He continued. More of the same. More cuts and such, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. He continued. He probed his abdomen looking for internal bleeding. He didn't like what he felt, but wasn't going to do anything about it here, but made a mental note so he could let the ER team know. He was sure that there were some broken ribs. Then he saw his leg. His right leg was a mess. It was turned at an odd angle. It was definitely broken. How many places, he couldn't be sure, but it would probably need surgery unless he was lucky and it was a clean break. There was some bleeding all over the leg, but it didn't appear as though there was bone sticking out anywhere. The other pant leg was torn as well. He hadn't finished checking him yet, but put a blanket over him when he heard and saw the ambulance pull into the parking lot. He was sure there were probably other soft tissue injuries that would be assessed later. Now he just needed to regain consciousness so House could find out what the hell had happened.

His doctor skills were in full effect at this point. Cuddy was just sitting there weeping softly while she did what she was able to help House. Now that the ambulance was there, she waited until they put him in a collar and strapped him to the back board and then she backed away slowly. Still in disbelief that this was her friend, her boyfriend's best friend, and the head of one one of the best departments in the hospital that was on the stretcher. Then she looked over at House and realized she needed to be strong. For him. He needed her. She had let him down and she needed to make it right.

"I'm Dr. House and this is Dr. Cuddy. The patient is Dr. James Wilson. We all work at PPTH so we would like him brought there. I am his doctor of record and medical proxy" House said. He was unsure about the last part as he didn't know if Wilson had switched it to Sam, but it ws true at some point, so he went with it. He ran through all the info he had gathered while they got him settled on the board and loaded him into the ambulance.

"I'm going with him. You can go home to Rachel if you want." House said plainly.

"Your ass I'm going home. I will follow you there. He is my friend too remember?"

House looked at the ambulance guys and swallowed his pride. He had left his cane in the car and there was no way he was getting off the ground unassisted and they didn't have any time to waste.

"Could someone give a cripple a hand?" he asked almost politely. He didn't want to chance offending one of them as they were in control of Wilson's fate for the next few minutes. Two of the younger crew guys got down on either side of him and put his arms around their shoulders and heaved him up. it was surprisingly effortless on House's part. The pain from the quick movement however was considerably more evident. They got him to his feet, and he broke out in sweat immediately.

"Hey man, you aren't going to pass out are you? Are you hurt too?" one of the guys asked.

"Not yet and it's an old injury it's just acting up and I left my cane in the car. Just help me get in the ambulance with my friend OK?" he asked. He tried to put weight on the right leg, but he couldn't. They didn't have the time to do his normal routine that he had for when the leg was really bad.

They wouldn't normally do it, but one look at how distraught he looked and the amount of pain they were sure he was in and they did as they were asked. They told him to hold on and then they basically physically lifted him into the ambulance.

Under any other circumstances House would have ripped them both apart by now, but for once it wasn't about him. He managed a nod of gratitude. he didn't know what he was dealing with and how bad Wilson really was hurt. he breathing was shallow and erratic. They had a face mask on him. He sat on one of the benches as close to Wilson as he could get. He was rubbing at his leg uncontrollably not wanting to think about what sitting on the cold cement sidewalk had done to it. He was lost in his thoughts as the ambulance sped threw the streets toward PPTH.

_Hang on Wilson. Hang on. Don't do this to me. I'm all alone without you. _Without House even noticing a tear ran down his face landing on his right leg where it blended in with the blood on his pants...Wilson's blood that was.

!If you are enjoying it, please let me know & Review !


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own anything. None of the characters, storylines, etc.

Cuddy followed behind the ambulance. She called ahead to get the team ready. She wanted the best working on Wilson. She also asked them to have a wheelchair standing by for House as he wasn't going to be able to make it much longer on his feet. She was pretty sure he was running on adrenaline and when it ran out he was going to crash...literally.

He rode silently in the ambulance. Wilson's vitals were stable. Not good, but stable. House didn't take his eyes off of Wilson for a second. Why was he still unconscious? What he wouldn't give for one of Wilson's stupid comments now. How he would love to see that stupid smirk. He couldn't stop his mind from racing. He looked at Wilson and wished he could trade places with him. His life was already miserable most of the time, what was a little more misery? But Wilson. He was the good guy. He was everyone's go to man. Everyone's friend. He was _his _friend, his _only _friend. Or at least he used to be. House didn't know if Wilson would ever forgive him for this when he recovered. He didn't know if he should be forgiven. House promised then and there that he would make an effort to be a better friend. If he believed in God this would be the time he would pray, but since he didn't, he made a silent promise to himself and to Wilson. The ambulance jerked to a stop pulling him out of his thoughts.

The doors to the ambulance flew open and the chaos began. He wanted to keep sitting there. Just to freeze time. Partly because he didn't think that he could physically get up and partly because he didn't think that he could bear to watch all the faces of his team as they saw the state that Wilson was in. He knew it was bad. He didn't need all of them reminding him. He already felt bad and he was sure that they all figured that this was his fault somehow. He guessed he deserved that. He was usually at the root of trouble that Wilson got in and they were right. This was his fault. He also knew that Wilson needed the best and he didn't really trust them not to mess up. He needed to be part of this. He needed to be involved. He needed to be there. He scooted to the end of the bench and got as close as he could to the edge of the rig. He bit down and stood up. Immediately pain was searing through his leg. He could feel his heart racing and the sweat forming on his forehead. He thought that he might pass out. He didn't know how he was going to get out of the rig exactly, but he needed to figure it out and fast. He watched all the action taking place around him and cursed his leg again for at least the hundredth time in the last hour.

There was no way he was going to make it down off the back of the ambulance alone. The guys who had helped him up had been busy getting Wilson out of the ambulance and giving his information to the team that had been waiting in the ambulance bay. He didn't see any sign of Cuddy yet. She must have gotten stopped somewhere that they had breezed through with the sirens and lights on. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to catch Chase's eye. Not really his first choice, but at least he could scare him into keeping his mouth shut. He nodded for him to come over.

"The leg is acting up and I need to get off this thing. I have to stay with Wilson. And NOT a word. Understand, not a word." House warned.

Chase was not about to argue with the older doctor. He knew when House was serious or in pain that it was not a good idea to test him and he was both at that moment. He climbed up into the ambulance put House's arm over his shoulder and helped guide him down the step slowly taking as much of his weight as he could.

Once on the ground, House said "OK. We're not a couple. You can let go of my arm." But no sooner than the words left his mouth his leg buckled. Chase reacted quickly and grabbed him, steadied him and then guided him into the wheelchair that had been left right next to the ambulance.

"I don't need this" House protested.

"Well I do. I can't carry you into the hospital. Maybe you should think about laying off the rubens." Chase said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Whatever, I don't have time to argue with you, I have to get Wilson" House snapped as he wheeled off. Cuddy caught up with them. She took one look at House who was pale and sweating and she started pushing him. Surprisingly he didn't argue. She then turned and ordered Chase to catch up with the team and help Wilson.

House quickly finds that he is in the way. He is unable to keep up with the pace that everyone is moving at. He has ditched the wheelchair in favor of a stool so that he could scoot around and not look like an invalid. He finally faces defeat and backs off to let them do their work. He slowly and painstakingly maneuvers himself back into the wheelchair. He orders one of the interns that he doesn't know to get him Wilson's chart. He tells him that all results are to be brought to him for him to review. He tells the intern that he will be in the OR observation deck where they are doing the surgery to stop the internal bleeding.

He watches with one eye as the surgery is performed. He leans forward in the wheelchair to get a closer look. In doing so he puts extra pressure on his right thigh. He can't suppress the scream. He grips at the pulsating mass as pain spreads through his body putting him into shakes. He manages to breathe through it, he takes some ibuprofen which he knows is a joke. He pages Cuddy because he know that while she is busy with directing Wilson's care, she isn't actually doing anything hands on with him. "Leg bad...need heat...OR observation" and leaves it at that. He expects that she will send a lackey to bring it, but doesn't care. As he waits, he can feel his heart racing and he can feel pressure building in his chest. A few minutes later she shows up herself with a heating pad. She knew for him to page her, that it was bad. She knew it meant it was past heating pad bad, but she was going to humor him. She walks in to find him bent over on himself writhing in pain in the wheel chair with labored breathing and a racing pulse clutching his leg.

OK so I know that Wilson was absent in this chapter, but he is coming back. I promise. No character death in this story.

Please keep reviewing. It keeps me going!


	5. Chapter 5

"Did you think that by sending yourself into cardiac arrest you were going to help Wilson? You are an idiot. I am admitting you right now. You two can be roommates." She yelled. She was frustrated that he would let himself get this bad while his best friend was fighting for his life.

He hadn't had a cardiac event, but his pain was so bad that he was close. She medicated him with what she could without giving him any narcotics. He was starting to relax a little. He had found out that Wilson was in recovery from surgery and that they had stopped the bleeding without complications and he would be brought up soon after they dealt with his other less critical injuries.

"He still hasn't regained consciousness, but now with the surgery, it will be a while before he comes around." She continued. She waited for a minute then quietly said "this isn't your fault you know. Wilson is a big boy. He didn't have to go to a bar."

"I didn't give him many options...Nevermind. I need to see what is going on with him now. Make sure that nothing gets missed by these incompetent people that you call doctors. Let me have his chart. I am still his medical proxy as far as I know. If not it's an oversight. Since Sam left, I would be the default anyway." He said in a voice that told her that she wasn't going to be winning this argument.

"Fine. I'll leave it because God knows what you would do to yourself while trying to get at it. She knew that keeping it from him would be more detrimental then letting him look at everything. She had been overseeing everything and if something had been overlooked he would be the one that would find it. This way he could do it safely and in less pain. She knew that his pain could be psychosomatic at times and she was sure that he was beating himself up over this. She wanted to do what she could to help him.

He started to pour over the results as they were coming in. Wilson had been put through an arsenal of tests. CAT Scans, MRI's, X-rays and blood tests. House read through the list of injuries as he sat by Wilson's bedside. The most severe was the cervical spine fracture. If it had been any worse, he could have been paralyzed, but it appeared that the fracture was stable and with use of a neck collar it would heal on his own. The facial The injuries are extensive. He is going to have a long recovery ahead of him. Some were serious. He was lucky to be alive...

House was most concerned with his head. The bleeding had been coming from a gauge on the top of his head. They had closed it so well House wondered if it would be noticeable. He figured where it was it would be covered by his hair. That was when it grew back in. It was sad that his head had to be shaved to do the closure. Wilson was going to be pissed when he woke up.

House wanted to be sure that there was no damage to Wilson's spine. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Wilson did have a cervical spine fracture. Luckily though, it was a fracture of the C7 spinous process and was a stable fracture. An orthopedic surgeon was consulted, and it appeared that it wouldn't need surgery. It would however need a good cervical collar for a month or two while it healed. There would be no way of knowing for sure whether there was any spinal cord involvement until he woke up and a full neurological workup could be completed and even then it would be difficult as there may be swelling of the cord from all the other trauma that he had suffered. For right now though, it looked OK. They would just have to wait and see and talk to the neurosurgeon and have Foreman take a look. He was currently set in a hard neck collar that supported him under the chin and extended down to his chest. It eliminated any neck movement and limited some upper body movement as well. House knew from his patients complaints that they were very uncomfortable and made daily tasks a chore.

He continued looking at the reports. Wilson had dislocated his shoulder and it was reduced by the orthopedic doctor and put in an immobilizing sling. It also appeared that he may have a hairline fracture of his left radius, but the reports were unclear. Someone else had suspected that as well and there was a second report. It showed that there was no actual fracture, but a severe sprain. He figured that they would elect to cast initially after swelling reduced, then go to bracing. He was in a hard brace now that covered most of his lower arm. House knew all too well that sometimes a clean break was much better than a bad sprain or soft tissue damage. But he also knew that this too would heal. House put his head in his hands and tried to fight back the tears.

He didn't know if he wanted to continue. He kept reading. Broken ribs, internal bleeding that was already repaired. Luckily, there hadn't been any major organ injury. Then he looked at his leg. House looked down at his own leg and then to Wilson's which was suspended in traction. It was fractured in 3 places and would need a long leg cast from his foot to his hip when the swelling came down. There had been 3 separate breaks, but no displacement. There had been some other supporting structure s damage, but that would wait until the fracture had healed for surgery if it was needed. He wouldn't be able to put weight on that leg for months. He would be confined to a wheel chair and would be in severe pain for a long time to be followed by a long painful period of therapy.

House thought about how he felt in the wheelchair today and thought back to those awful months after the infarction. Wilson didn't deserve this. He wheeled over to his best friend. He looked at his face. His soft brown eyes that were usually so caring were still shut. His face swollen and distorted around them. House reached over and traced the cut on his head that was now shaved. The fuzz on his head had been rinsed off and was now soft. Even with very little hair, House noted that Wilson was still and attractive man. He had always thought that his hair made his look, but he was still very handsome without it. House wasn't sure, but he may even like this look more. He was sure that if nothing else it would take much less time and many fewer products to deal with.

Then he settled back down in the wheelchair next to his bed. He knew at this angle, Wilson wouldn't be able to see the chair anyway. House didn't want Wilson to worry about him when he had so many other things to think about. House reconsidered. Maybe that was what Wilson would need. Maybe if he worried about House then he wouldn't think so hard about his own problems. House figured he couldn't stop Wilson from worrying about him so he would just let the cards land where they may. He didn't want to start with Wilson by lying to him. He wanted it to be different now. He thought back to the parking lot and even before when he thought that Wilson could have been dead. When he thought that he might have lost his best friend. Again. During the liver transplant it was hard enough. That wasn't his fault. And now this. This was his fault. He had been absently rubbing Wilson's non-injured right hand. He realized what he was doing, but didn't think he wanted to stop. It felt right and for once in his life he wasn't going to stop doing something out of fear for what someone might think. Plus he thought that maybe the contact would help Wilson and bring him around a little quicker. He was almost positive that he could feel Wilson's breathing change when he stopped and started the rubbing. So he kept it up and started talking to him. He didn't know whether he could hear him, but he didn't care. He was going to try. "Jimmy wake up. Talk to me. I know that you are tired, but open your eyes already. It's time to wake up. Come on Wilson. This chair is really uncomfortable and my leg is already killing me. Wake up already so I can crawl into bed and get some rest." He said to him. He wasn't kidding. The leg was killing him. He needed to lay down, but he couldn't rest until he heard Wilson, until he knew Wilson was OK. "Come on Wilson, I need you to wake up. I need you to...forget it. I just need you..." With that he leaned forward and rest his head on the bed rail and watched him breath. He layed with his head on the rail for what felt like forever. He was in and out of sleep. He had eventually lowered the rail, put his leg up on the bed and tried to relax in the chair. He thought he felt something and then House saw Wilson's eyes flutter and then open and look around.

"Hey sleeping beauty" House said to him.

"Hey" Wilson replied. He was trying to reorient himself. He recognized the wall and the ceiling. He was in the hospital. "What am I doing in a bed in the hospital?" Then the pain started to kick in. "My neck...My neck hurts. I can't move my neck" He tries to reach up with his left arm to feel his neck. "My arm. I can't move my arm either... Or my leg. What the hell is going on?"

House could sense his anxiety level rising and wanted to calm him down before he had a full fledged panic attack.

Wilson closed his eyes and despite the pain he smiled a little.

House was still holding his hand. He had never put it down after he picked it up earlier when he was rubbing it. He was ever so gently massaging it still . It felt nice. It was warm. It was comforting. It was grounding and real. It was very unlike House, but nice.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Hope that you are enjoying it so far. Please review if you are...it keeps me motivated to keep the story going. Hope to be able to keep posting in a timely manner. Next few chapters should answer some questions I hope.

House had triggered the pain pump. It helped with Wilson's pain and his anxiety, but didn't cause him to go back to sleep.

"Hey what did you do that for?" Wilson asked as he opened his eyes annoyed that House had triggered his medication. He wanted to get some answers. He needed to figure some things out and he wanted his mind as clear as it could be.

"I didn't want you having a panic attack or a heart attack before I got to properly interrogate you." House replied as though it was perfectly normal to sedate a friend without their approval.

"Interrogate me? About what?" Wilson asked innocently.

"Yes, interrogate you. Are you having trouble hearing or are you really just that slow? I want to know what happened to you?" He said annoyance obvious in his voice.

"What, you don't know? I thought that you would be able to tell me...Well why don't we ask Sam? Speaking of Sam, where is she? Did you chase her away? Oh wait, is she OK? Oh God, she is OK isn't she?" Wilson asked with the panic rising in his voice again.

"Calm down you idiot. Don't make me push this thing again. It is time controlled you know." House said annoyed. He was trying to stall. He was trying to read Wilson to see if he was messing with him. He was trying to figure out why Wilson was asking about Sam? Why would he care about the harpie who had started this awful chain reaction of events that landed him in that hospital bed?

"House...answer me. Where is Sam? Why isn't she here? She is OK isn't she? You would tell me if she wasn't wouldn't you? You have to tell me." Wilson said still anxious, but obviously trying to control it so that House wouldn't medicate him again.

"Why don't you tell me first what you remember." House replied coyly. He had to feel out Wilson's memory a little to see what he really remembered. House knew that it wasn' t uncommon for some degree of amnesia after a head injury or a traumatic event and Wilson had both.

Wilson tries to remember what had happened. He tried to figure out what had happened to land him here in so much pain." He decided he wanted to try to sort it out in his head first so that House couldn't trick him. He pieced together as much as he could. He remembered work and then getting ready for the wedding. He remembered putting the ring in his jacket pocket and he remembered that he was going to ask Sam to marry him. He smiled while he remembered how excited he had been. He remembered the actual wedding and arriving at the reception, but then it all got fuzzy. He couldn't remember if he had actually proposed to Sam or what had happened. He did remember drinking though. It was a wedding after all. _Crap_, he thought to himself. _I must have gotten drunk and had a car accident. That makes sense. But I usually won't drive if I'm drunk and Sam was sure to not let me drive if I was drunk _he thought. But somehow, it didn't feel right to him. Something didn't quite seem right. And where was Sam? He had a feeling that House knew and he was going to have to figure out how to get it out of him.

"OK House you win. I don't know what happened. Can you please enlighten me. I can't remember anything past the beginning of the reception. Please tell me I wasn't stupid enough to drive drunk and please tell me that Sam isn't...dead. I can't deal with that. Not...aga" Wilson stopped as his breathing and heart rate had gotten very rapid. House had put the oxygen mask over his face and had grabbed for the pump again.

"No, don't please. I'll calm down." Wilson pleaded with House as he awkwardly took off the oxygen mask with his right hand. .

"OK fine. But if you get that excited again I will up your pain meds so that you don't wake up for a good long while." House threatened.

"Deal. Now tell me what you know." Wilson asked. His brown eyes were looking right at House and were pleading with him. Pleading for House to fill in the blanks.

House thought long and hard how he wanted to answer this. He knew that he needed to tell Wilson enough so that he would stop asking about Sam. The idea of another dead girlfriend was obviously too much for him. He didn't know how well an ex-girlfriend would sit, but he figured that it had to be better than that. He didn't want to lie to him. He wanted him to be able to process it.

"Well Sam _is_ gone, but not how you think." he started. Wilson looked at him through swollen eyes with confusion.

"She left you. You proposed and she left the wedding. You went home to her, had a fight and then she left you. She moved out of the condo. You're better off if you ask me. So like I said, she is gone, but I don't know where. You would know that better than me." House said.

"That doesn't make sense. I was going to propose to her. Even if we had a fight, why would she leave me? It's not like we haven't fought before. We fight and then we make up and go on to do it again. Why would she just leave?" Wilson said blinking heavily. He just couldn't get his mind around it.

"Well assuming that you are telling the truth which is always a risky thing to do since everyone lies, right? Assuming that you are telling the truth, then what happened to me then? I thought that I drove home from the wedding drunk and crashed the car. Or did that still happen? What happened to me." He asked again?

House didn't really know the answer to that question so he chose to answer from another angle. He wasn't sure that Wilson was thinking clearly enough to be able to know that he was being guided in another thought stream to see if he could trigger Wilson's memory.

"Well you really did a number on yourself. You managed to fracture C7 spinous process. Dislocate you shoulder, sprain your wrist, break a few ribs, have internal bleeding which required surgery to fix, cut your head open that required closing. Oh yeah, you fractured your leg in 3 places also." House paused for a minute. "I think that's it. It's been a long night so if I missed something Sorry. I'm sure it will hurt you soon enough and then I can explain it to you or you can just read it in your chart." House said.

Wilson used his right arm to reach up and he felt the brace on his neck, the sling on his left arm, brace on his wrist, binder for his ribs and surgical incision. and cast on his leg. Well at least House seemed to be telling the truth about his injuries. Then he realized that House still hadn't told him what had happened to him. He heard the click of the pain pump and slowly gave in to the sleep.

House knew that this was a lot for Wilson to process and he was tired. His leg hurt and he didn't want to deal with whining Wilson tonight. He wanted him good and drugged (now that he knew he was OK, well as OK as anyone with all of his injuries could be) and he wanted to get some sleep. He would worry about how to answer Wilson's questions in the morning. Once he heard Wilson's rhythmic snoring, he rolled back to his bed, painfully heaved himself onto the bed. He had to sit at the edge for a minute massaging the leg before he could even attempt to lift it into the bed. Once he laid down, he gingerly put his leg up on the pillow and rang for the pills that Cuddy said she had ordered.

The nurse came a few minutes later. She didn't say a word, but handed House the pills. She was about to check Wilson when House threatened her. "He is fine. He is just sleeping. I was talking to him, he needs his rest so don' t make me have to get you fired for waking him up. I am his doctor on record and I am telling you to leave him alone."

The nurse had been warned about House so was not about to argue with him when Wilson was in no apparent distress. "Does Dr. Cuddy know he was awake?" We were given strict instructions to let her know if he awoke."the nurse said nervously.

"No and you had better not be the one to tell her." He shot back at her.

"bbbut she ordered us to tell her." the nurse repeated.

"Hand me my cell phone from my shirt over there and I will tell her mself." he huffed.

He texted to her _Wilson was awake. He's OK. Needs to sleep. Me too. Leg OK. See you tomorrow. - House_

He looked at the nurse "Happy?" he asked.

She turned and walked out of the room without a word.

He was just beginning to relax his leg enough he thought he might get a few minutes sleep when he heard the room door open again. He sighed.

He heard the familiar clicking of her heels.

"I told you to go home." he said quietly. Normally he would have been the first to wake Wilson from a snooze, but he knew his friend needed to sleep.

"Yeah, and I take orders just about as well as you do. I had to make sure that you were both OK. Was he really awake? Is he OK? What happened to him?" She started her inquisition.

"He woke up, didn't really remember much of anything useful. Didn't remember Sam left him. He got really panicked I activated his pain pump twice. Damn idiot almost threw himself into a freaking panic attack. He could really use something for anxiety. He should be out for a while. He's a lightweight with meds and he's pretty well doped up. I will grill him more in the morning, but he appeared OK. Do you really think I would just let him go to sleep if I didn't?"

"Well..." she said with a wry smile. "No, not Wilson. OK, well I will let you get back to your sleepover and I'll see you in the morning. Call me if you need anything. Otherwise I have left strict orders for the nurses for pain management for both of you and I'll order something for anxiety in case he needs it." With that she leaned over and gave him a kiss.

He listened to the click clack or her heels as they faded into the distance. He closed his eyes and let himself be engulfed in sleep.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a nice sleep. It was a very fitful sleep. He dreamt about all the different scenarios that could have lead to Wilson being in the state that he was when he found him. Then he dreamt of a different ending to the story. He woke up in a heavy sweat. He couldn't handle that. That dream haunted him. He couldn't go back to sleep. He looked at his watch. It was early, but not that early. He had to go pee. He didn't want to get up. He just wanted to stay in bed. His bladder had a different idea though. He was starting the process of getting up when he heart movement from Wilson's bed.


	7. Chapter 7

House looked over to see what was going on over in Wilson's bed. He saw him attempting to toss and turn. House knew what was happening. He had seen this from Wilson before. He was having a nightmare. House figured he was probably having a flashback to whatever had happened the night before. House wanted to know what had happened. He wanted Wilson to remember, but he also knew that he needed to wake him up before he hurt himself.

House started the agonizing task of getting out of bed without adequate pain medication and without taking his time. He stood up with all his weight on his left leg. He tested out the right. He tried to put weight on it. He was able to put a little on it. He knew it wasn't going to be enough to allow him to walk to Wilson's bed though. He thought quickly. He knew he wasn't in the shape to hop to the bed and he had to pee like he hadn't peed in days. He looked at the basin with supplies in it sitting on top of the bedside table. _Great_ he thought. _ I am now officially an old man. I am peeing in a urinal bottle, by choice._ He grabbed the urinal and relieved himself with a sigh that was cut short by the thrashing and moaning in the next bed. He left the urinal on the table promising himself that he would empty it before Wilson saw it.

He grabbed the wheelchair and got behind it leaning on it with everything that he had and used it as a makeshift walker. He was then able to step hop to Wilson's bed. He got to the bed and he grabbed Wilson by the right shoulder and tried to wake him up as gently as he could. Wilson really looked bad and as much of a jerk as he was, he didn't want to cause Wilson anymore pain. If there was one thing that House understood, it was physical pain. He wasn't waking up quickly enough for House though, so he yelled at him. "Hey Wilson, you're having a bad dream. Wake up before you hurt yourself." He said loudly while rubbing his chest. He noticed Wilson's chest was rather muscular. He must have been watching his weight and maybe he had been working out with Sam. House knew that she was quite the health nut. He rubbed his hand along Wilson's pecs under the guise that he was trying to wake him up, but if anyone was actually close enough they would see the gentle touch that he was using.

It was enough though. Wilson woke with a start. He looked around groggily. He was confused...again. House was getting tired of explaining nothing to him. He didn't know what had happened and he didn't really want to dwell on all the injuries that Wilson had. He hoped Wilson would retain a little from the previous night and was curious if the nightmare had triggered any memories for him.

"So...? Anything you want to tell me." House asked curiously.

"Uhhh...good morning?" Wilson said slowly, not really sure what House was looking for.

"You have this nightmare that has you just about throwing yourself on the floor and the only thing you want to tell me is good morning? You are pretty screwed up you know?" House said annoyed that he wasn't going to learn anything new.

"Well you should know all about screwed up. I'm pretty sure you are the president of that club." Wilson said with a small smile, a glint in his eye and a little snicker which caused his ribs to hurt. Pain flashed across his face and he immediately paled.

"You idiot you have broken ribs not to mention that are going to rupture your stitches from surgery. You know that you need to brace your stomach with something when you cough or laugh. You are a doctor. You do still remember that don't you?"

"Yes and I know, but it caught me off guard." he said apologetically.

Wilson started feeling around in the bed with his right hand for the bed control. He couldn't seem to find it. House reached over and put it in his hand. He wanted to raise the head of the bed, but was holding the controller upside down, so he moved the legs instead. This triggered pain to run through Wilson that caused him to gasp for his breath.

House grabbed the bed remote back away from him. "Give that to me before you kill yourself. What were you trying to do anyway?

"Get comfortable..." Wilson said between gasps.

"How'd that work out?" House asked with a grin, but then looked at Wilson who was obviously in pain and stopped grinning. He gently eased the head of the bed up and then got a pillow and helped to prop Wilson up. He found another pillow and carefully placed it behind Wilson's head to help support it.

"Thanks" Wilson said with a weak smile.

House sat down in the only thing that was close. The wheelchair that he had used to get over to Wilson's bed. He hated even sitting in it, but still without his morning pain medication and no cane to get anywhere else to sit, he resigned to staying put.

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes. Once House heard that Wilson's breathing had returned to a near normal rate, he asked him for a pain scale. House wasn't one for useless questions like how are you feeling or are you in pain. House knew the answer to both of those. He just wanted to know how bad so he could figure out how to help him.

Wilson answered quickly..."I'm fine House. Really, I just wasn't ready for the pain in my leg. I wasn't expecting it and it surprised me..." he said as he tried to reach down for his leg.

"Yeah, right. You look fine. You are sweating, every muscle that you can tighten is clenched, you can barely breath without bracing yourself. Yeah, I'd say that you are just fine. Deflecting is my thing. Why don't you just be a good boy wonder and give me a number." House shot back at him not in the mood for this game.

"Fine. It's probably around an 8.

"8? You are just lying there and it's an 8? You need more medicine. I'm calling the nurse." House said like it was unheard of for someone to be an 8 when he had spent many a day at a baseline 8. But that was him. He had grown used to it. Not Wilson. Wilson shouldn't have to go through that he thought.

House rang for the nurse to come in. He told her that Wilson would need more pain medication, hopefully something not so sedating now that he was awake and that Cuddy should have left some orders.

The nurse nodded her head in understanding. She said that she had read the orders that Cuddy had left and would be right back. She turned to leave, but then turned and asked House if he wanted what Cuddy had ordered for him too. House shot her a look that could have killed, said that he was fine, but that she might as well bring something for him as well. With that he picked up the remote and turned on the TV looking for something to watch and ease the tension. He hope that Wilson hadn't been paying that much attention. He knew better, but he was going to wait for Wilson to call him on it.

Wilson had heard and immediately started to worry. Even in his medicated/pained haze, he was worried about House. He then realized House was pretending to watch TV. Clearly ignoring the issue at hand since there was nothing on TV now that interested House.

Since Wilson was sitting up he could scan the room a little now. He noticed that there was another bed in the room. He wasn't able to turn his head so he could only use his peripheral vision. Then he tried his best to look at House. He was wearing the same clothes as last night he was pretty sure. He was sitting in a low chair next to the bed. No wait, he was in a wheelchair. Now his brain was going full speed.

House must have slept here last night. Well of course he would Wilson thought. Maybe House was actually worried about him. No, he knew House just wanted to be able to bother him whenever he wanted. That and to be able to harass the staff that dared to enter the room. But the wheelchair. Wilson thought harder. He couldn't think of anything. Something must have happened to make it flare. Or maybe he was overly worried about him and that was causing him more pain than normal.

Wilson couldn't understand why he was having these thoughts. It was House. House didn't worry about him that way. When it was the other way around, Wilson worried about House. Truth be told, there weren't too many times that Wilson wasn't worried about House. He could pretty much read all of his movements. He knew his weight shifts, his faces, his tones. He knew when he was deflecting because he was uncomfortable with something or when he was in pain. He could usually figure most House-isms out if he had enough time. He was always worried about the older doctor. He was pretty sure that it didn't work the other way around though.

After his liver surgery, House had been there for him. He knew that was hard for House, but he had been there with him until he was recovered. He knew that House did have some compassion, but he didn't think that House ever actually thought about him unless he was right in his face. He doubted that House lost sleep worrying about him like he did worrying about House.

House knew that the wheels were spinning in Wilson's head and instead of having Cuddy or one of the nurses tell him something stupid, he decided to come clean to Wilson. "Fine. My leg is hurting. Sitting on a cold sidewalk, then in an ambulance and then in various areas throughout the hospital all night tends to do that to it. I slept here last night just because it was easier then going home and getting back here again. Yes. I am sitting in a wheelchair. If you hadn't noticed the only other chair is way on the other side of the room and I didn't think I had time to drag it over here while you were trying to throw yourself out of the bed. Then I used the urinal because again you were trying to teach yourself how to fly and I don't just spring out of bed in the morning.

Wilson nodded. Well, Wilson tried to nod then remembered that he couldn't move his neck.

The nurse walked back in and gave them both some medication and asked if they needed anything else before she left. They both said no and then she turned and shut the door behind her.

"How bad am I really? he asked after a few minutes. Am I going to be OK? I want the truth" he said.

"Yeah, mostly." House said honestly.

"What does that mean?" Wilson asked apprehensively.

"We already went through all this. Do we have to keep rehashing it." House asked. He didn't really like to keep having to deliver the painful news to Wilson.

"Please. I only remember bits and pieces from last night. I want to know what I am dealing with so I can start to organize things in m head." he told House.

"Well the fractures to your leg were pretty bad. Some other damage that will wait until the leg has healed to see if it needs surgery. The neck will take a while. You will probably have weakness and pain for quite a while. The shoulder and wrist should be fine and your face...Well that's going to be painful for me to look at for a while, but nothing serious. The cut near your eye didn't need to be closed and will heal on it's own, and the incision on the back of your head was closed nicely and when your hair grows back you won't even be able to tell you have a scar there."

"What do you mean when my hair grows back. What happened to my hair?" Wilson asked with apprehension as he reached up to feel the fuzz that was where his well groomed hair used to be.

"Everything that I told you and that's what you are worried about. Not any of the medical problems, but your hair. I should have known. Well genius, they had to shave your hair to close the wound and then I told them to just keep going. I figured that you wouldn't want to have half a head of hair. Hey, now you'll match all the bald-headed little darlings that you are so fond of. Just think how they'll look up to you now." House said as he looked over at Wilson to see his reaction.

Wilson didn't seem to appreciate his attempt at humor. House could see the pain in his eyes. "Alright Wilson. I want a number. How bad is the pain? The meds may not have kicked in yet. It's only been a few minutes. Do you want me to call the nurse?" House asked. This was weird. Their roles were reversed. This was Wilson's job. Wilson was supposed to be quizzing him about his pain. He was the one who was supposed to be suffering, not Wilson.

"No, it's not any worse. Not really better, but not worse." Wilson admitted flatly.

"I think I need to change my position a little though. My back is getting sore." Wilson said quietly.

"OK. I'll get the nurse." House said as he reached for the call button.

The nurse came in and helped Wilson turn very little arranging the pillows so that all of his injured parts were supported. His leg swelling seemed better and was taken out of the sling and propped on pillows. He seemed to be a little more comfortable and he told House he was going to try to get some rest.

House agreed. Wilson did look tired. He waited for Wilson to doze off and then started to get up so that he could get ready for the day. He decided to just wheel back to his side of the room. He heard his phone vibrating. He was sure it was going to be Cuddy. It was early, but she was probably on her way in for the day and wanting to know if he needed anything and how he was.


	8. Chapter 8

Sure enough. It was Cuddy calling.

"How are my two favorite patients doing this morning?" she asked.

"Well one of us is sleeping and the other one is just about to try to take a shower." he said. "I'll let you figure out which is which." he said shortly.

"Well Mr. Sunshine, I just wanted to know if you wanted me to pick you up anything from your apartment on my way in." she asked.

"I guess. Could you bring me some clothes, my iPod, my laptop and some journals for me to read." He said.

"Are you planning on staying for a while? She asked.

"Well someone needs to make sure that these idiots don't kill Wilson." he said.

She wasn't about to argue with him. "Fine. How is Wilson? Do you want me to pick you guys up some breakfast too?"

"He's still sleeping. Yes, pick up some pancakes. Two orders from Mickey's. I am sure Wilson will appreciate it. I don't know what the last thing he ate was. See you in a while."

With that he hung up the phone and set out to take a shower. He gathered what he had and slowly made his way into the bathroom. He turned the water on as hot as he could. He would have preferred a soak in a tub, but this would do for the time being.

He stepped into the shower and just let the steaming hot water run over his tired aching muscles. It was quiet in there and he was just left with his thoughts. They automatically turned to Wilson. He thought about him leaving the hospital. He was going to be alone. Sam had left. His family was not that close. House was sure that his parents would come to take care of him, but that Wilson wouldn't like that. He decided that Wilson would go to his apartment or even better that he would move back into the loft with Wilson. He would hire someone, with Wilson's money of course, to help him if he needed it. Then he thought about Cuddy. What was he going to tell her? Would she even care? Of course she would care. House knew that she kept him on a pretty short leash, but the sex was good and it hadn't really interfered with much of his life yet...

Then he flashed to Wilson on the sidewalk and thought about the missed calls and why he missed the calls and why Wilson had to make the calls in the first place. He reached down and rubbed his leg. He must have over did the standing in the shower he thought. It was time to get out. He didn't want to keep thinking about this.

He stepped out of the shower and dried off. He towel dried his hair and left it sticking up in every direction. He pulled on his underwear and a pair of hospital scrub pants and top someone had left for him while he was sleeping. He pulled on his socks and his sneaks. He wouldn't dare walk across any floor in the hospital barefoot. He slowly walked back out to the room where Wilson was waking up.

"So sleeping beauty is awake...again." House said while making his way slowly across the room.

"Again? How many times have I woken up today?" Wilson asked confused.

"Well I really don't want to get into it if you aren't going to remember it again. It's getting to be very annoying. Why don't you tell me what you remember and I'll start from there. At this rate, maybe I should just start writing it down and you can just read it every time you need a refresher course." House sniped.

"Hey give me a break. I'm injured over here you know." Wilson shoots back trying to look as pathetic as he can. Which in the state that he is in wasn't too hard. "I do remember some things, but a lot is still fuzzy. I remember the wedding and then being here in the hospital with you. I've got a bunch of injuries, but nothing life threatening. You keep giving me pain medication...I don't remember a lot of the in between stuff." Wilson admitted honestly.

"Well at least your brain isn't complete mush. There may be hope after all. At least you might be able to understand the bald headed brats you are so fond of." House snarked.

"Thanks. So I told you what I remember. Why don't you fill in the blanks for me?" Wilson asked.

"Well you got most of it right. Do you remember the extent of all the medical stuff or should I poke a few places to jog your memory?" House asked.

"So nice of you to want to help your best friend like that, but I think I'll pass. I'm pretty good with that I think. I was hoping more that you could fill in what happened that landed me here." Wilson shot back.

"Actually you haven't shared those details with me yet, so I can't help you out." House replied.

"You mean you weren't with me? I just assumed. I remember you told me that Sam left me and that I was drunk and I know you spent the night here too, so I just assumed that we were both drunk and you stayed here to sleep it off." Wilson said while trying to piece it all together in his head.

"Well you have some of it right. The Sam part, the you being drunk part and the me spending the night here part. I wasn't with you while you got drunk though. I found you after..." House said with a knot in his throat. _Damn_ he thought. _Wilson is going to make this really tough on me. _

"Why was I out drinking by myself? Why wouldn't I have gone to your place? I don't drink by myself. Wilson said more to himself to try to figure things out than really asking anyone else.

Just then Cuddy walked in. She leaned over and gave House a quick kiss, threw his bag in the hair and then pulled up the bedside table next to Wilson and put one of the pancake platters on it.

"Good morning House. And Wilson, I'm glad to see that you are awake. How are you feeling this morning? Do you need something more for pain? Are they taking good care of you? Do you need anything else? Anything, just let me know." she fired at him. She was trying to distract herself from looking at her battered head of Oncology lying there in the bed as a patient in her hospital. His face was starting to turn multiple shades and was swollen around his eye near the cut. His neck brace was obviously uncomfortable and he was clearly in pain. It would be awful for this to be any patient, but Wilson, that was too much for her. She just wanted to get out and get to her work.

She took out some of the plastic silverware, opened the platter and cut up Wilson's pancakes into little pieces as she was familiar with doing for Rachel. She loaded a few of them onto the fork. She opened one of the orange juices and put the straw in it. Then she put them where she thought that he could reach them. She asked if he wanted a napkin. He shook his head.

House interrupted. "He's not a damn baby. He doesn't need a bib. Do you think that he forgot how to eat. It used to be one of his favorite past times. Leave him alone. He doesn't want to be coddled." he snarled at her.

Cuddy didn't want to start a fight with House right now. She was sure that Wilson would be ok now so she said. "I have to get to work. I want to squash the rumors before they get started about the two of you being here. I am sure the hospital will be all aflutter. I was planning on keeping the explanation simple and saying that you had been injured in an accident and leaving the details out. Unless you want otherwise, I will tell people that you would prefer not to have visitors except by prior clearance through me. That should keep most of the busy-bodies away for a while at least." she said. " Does that sound OK to you?" she asked.

"Well since I don't really remember what happened that is as good as it gets I guess." Wilson replied. "Thanks for stopping by and thanks for breakfast. I know you have to get back to work." he said. He was a little upset as contrary to what House may have thought, he did need some help. He was sure that House wasn't going to be the one to give it to him.

"I'll be by later. House, everything that you asked for is in your bag and breakfast should still be warm. Enjoy and stay out of trouble." she said with a small smile as she turned and headed out.

"Sure mom." House threw at her as she was walking out the door.

Once she was gone, Wilson said, "Gee, I'm starved he said. I can't remember what the last thing I ate was. They smell wonderful. Are they from the Mickey's?" Wilson asked.

"Yep." House replied while he grabbed the remote. He pulled up another chair and heaved his leg up onto it using his hands for support. He changed the TV station and chowed down his breakfast.

House wolfed down his entire breakfast and drank his juice. He punctuated his breakfast with a loud belch before he even looked over at Wilson to see what was left on his plate that he could steal. They were used to eating in silence while watching TV so this wasn't anything new. He hadn't needed to steal from him right away since he had enough of his own.

"House..." Wilson started quietly.

House turned around. "What the hell Wilson? Did you forget how to eat? I thought I was kidding with Cuddy earlier, I didn't think that you had actually forgotten."

Wilson interrupted his thoughts as he started again. "I did not forget how to eat, I'm just having some trouble with actually getting the food in my mouth. Do you think you could get me an aide. I need some help here. Call me a baby or useless or an idiot or whatever else you may want to call me but apparently I can't feed myself without wearing half of it.

House could hear Wilson's voice cracking and knew how hard that was for Wilson. House knew even when Wilson was sick or had a migraine, he suffered in silence. He grieved by He never wanted to be a bother to anyone. House couldn't believe what he was about to do. He knew that Wilson would do it for him without thinking about it or without being asked. He would just do it because he was Wilson and he would know to do it.

He silently walked over to Wilson's plate. He stabbed the fork through the rest of the pancakes and handed the fork to Wilson. Then he took a towel and cleaned up the mess from the orange juice on Wilson's chest the best that he could. He put the straw back in the container and handed it to Wilson so that he could get the straw in his mouth. He waited silently for Wilson to drink. When he was sure that Wilson wasn't going to starve from malnurishment, he silently got up, went to his bag took out his clothes and went to the bathroom to get changed.

He leaned against the sink and caught his breath. He was not good at this. He wasn't a nurturer. He didn't do this. This was what Wilson did. Wilson was good at this. He was sweating slightly. He was thinking back to after the infarction when Wilson was there. Everyone else left, but Wilson was still there. Wilson knew everything that House needed without him needing to ask. Wilson put his whole life on hold, ruined his marriage and took leave from work to be there for him. House was getting upset now. He wasn't used to feeling like this. He had very few long-term relationships and none had lasted as long as his friendship with Wilson. He knew how he felt when Wilson wasn't in his life after Amber died and he knew for their friendship to survive he had to be there for him now. He didn't know how he was going to do it. This had been something so small and Wilson was going to need so much. How was he going to do this?

He started to put his walls back up. _Who asked Wilson to do all those things? Who asked him? I didn't. He needs to be needed. He knows how I am. He knows I __don't do those things. He knows who I am. We've been friends long enough. He should know by now. He knows I can't change. Not even for him. _He thought.

He took a few breaths, splashed some water on his face, opened the door and limped out. He glanced over at Wilson.

"Thanks. The pancakes were good." Wilson said trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, I bet. That's why you chose to wear them rather than eat them." House snarked trying to keep the mood light.

I wasn't really that hungry." Wilson said hoping that House wouldn't push the issue. He wasn't really that proud of how much help he was beginning to realize that he was going to need and he hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. He looked over at House knowing how hard this was on him too. He remembered how upset House had been when he had donated his liver. He was sure that last night had upset him. He looked over at House and saw him rubbing his leg absentmindedly.

"How's the leg?" Wilson was happy to put the focus on House. This was a familiar role for him. This was easy for both of them.

"Really, you don't have anything else to worry about besides me?" House asked.

Wilson laughed at House's sad attempt at deflection, but immediately regretted it as it jostled his body. He honestly couldn't decide which part of him hurt more. He just closed his eyes, gritted his teeth together and groaned as he pain shot through him.

House was immediately at his side. "You idiot you hurt yourself didn't you? Where? What did you hurt? Do you need something more for pain?" House asked with more concern in his voice then either of them was used to or comfortable with.

"I'm fine. I know not to make those sudden movements. Everything hurts and is going to hurt. We both know that. I'm just going to have to get used to it. This is my life for a while." He lifted his right arm up to rub his neck and remembered the brace so instead closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and didn't want House to see. He took a deep breath. He took everything that he had and pulled himself together. He opened his eyes but didn't look at House. He said "I'm tired. Why don't you go for a walk? Get out of here for a little while. I'm going to rest. I don't need you to sit here and watch me sleep. Why don't you go let Cuddy and your team know I'm OK. I am sure that they are worried about us BOTH."

"I could use a little walk anyway. The leg is a little stiff. The kids are probably having a party while Dad's away. This will really put a kink in their day. Alright Wilson, I'll see you later. Have nice dreams and keep Cuddy's funbags out of them."

"Alright House see you later." Wilson said quietly.

House walked out the door and closed the door behind him. He rounded the corner and leaned against the wall. He took a few deep breaths. He had no idea that it would be this hard. He was afraid that he might actually be starting to understand why Wilson worried about him so much and he didn't like it.

He decided to go find the team first. But first he made a stop at the nursing station to let them know that Wilson would need some assistance with getting cleaned up and dressed.

He started down the hall toward the diagnostic department. He knew Cuddy was often in meetings for most of the morning. He started his step-thump journey down the hall with all sorts of emotions that he didn't know what to do with. He just wanted to go somewhere where he didn't have any emotions to deal with. Work was easy. It was science there was always a right and wrong. There was always an answer. There was no emotion. He made sure of that by having the least amount of personal interaction that he could with the patients.

He headed down the hall to the diagnostic office. He approached Wilson's office. He opened the door. He stepped inside and he couldn't stop thinking. His leg was really starting to protest so he laid down on Wilson's couch like he had so many times before. He wondered how long it would be before Wilson would be back in this office. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Wilson laid in the bed. He couldn't sleep. He wasn't tired. He needed to think. Everything hurt. Pain like he couldn't even imagine. He thought that he was starting to understand what House felt like after the infarction. He didn't know how he was going to get through this. Who was he going to turn to? Sam was gone. His parents were too far and this would be far too stressful on them as they were aging themselves. House? He could barely be bothered to help him. How is he going to do this. He started thinking more. He figured he had enough money to get some help at home, but he really didn't want a stranger living with him. Before Cuddy, he would have asked House to move back into the loft, but now he couldn't do that. House was having his chance at happiness. It would be selfish of him to ask House to sacrifice that for him. He was getting anxious and the tears were starting to flow. He decided that he would take one day at a time. He would still be in the hospital for a little while so he had a few days to figure it out. He changed the channel, wiped at his eyes the best he could and reached to ring for the nurse for pain medication. He didn't want to be asleep all the time but he was in pain. He wanted something to help, but not something that would make him pass out.

He stopped short because the door opened and an aide walked in. "I thought you might need to get washed up." she said.

Had House tipped her off or was it just that time he wondered. Either way he did need to be cleaned up and he was going to need some help. He knew it was going to hurt so he asked the aide to get a nurse to bring him some pain medication first.

She left to go get the nurse with the medication promising to be right back.


	9. Chapter 9

OK, I haven't completely abandoned this story. I have gotten wrapped up in another fandom. I apologize. Coming back to this I didn't like some of it. I have completely rewritten Chapter 9 expanded it over a few chapters and added several other chapters also. I hope that you guys will review and let me know what you think. I have a bunch written so the updates should be quicker...Thanks.

The nurse called Cuddy and then she went to find Foreman to tell him that Wilson was awake. She knew that he would need a full neurological exam due to the cervical fracture to be sure that there wasn't any spinal cord damage or parasthesias. She found Foreman in the diagnostic department and filled him in. He left to go check on Wilson right away. Cuddy asked if he had seen House yet and he shook his head no on his way out the door.

Cuddy peeked into House's office, but no one was there. She walked by Wilson's office on the way to the elevator. She stopped for a minute and thought about Wilson and how it would be a while before he was going to be able to resume his duties. She was thinking about who was going to replace him while he was out and then she noticed the small light in the corner. She approached the door to turn off the light when she thought she saw something moving inside. She stepped inside and saw House tossing and turning on the couch. He was apparently dreaming and it wasn't a good one. She sat down on the edge of the couch next to him. She gently rubbed his back. She wanted to comfort him, but didn't want to abruptly wake him up. He was talking in his sleep. She couldn't figure out most of what he was saying, but she got bits and pieces...enough to figure out he was dreaming about her. He was saying things like don't leave and I can't live without you, I love you and I need you. She was happy that at least in his dreams he was able to say those things to her since he certainly didn't say them during the day. She sat there a little while longer just running her fingers through his hair and rubbing her hand on his face. He eventually woke up and noticed her sitting on the couch.

"When did you get here?" he asked.

"A few minutes ago." She replied.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's creepy to watch someone sleep?" he growled lightly.

"I just sat with you and it's not creepy if its your girlfriend. You know that I'm not mad at you anymore, right? I'm not going anywhere. Just because we had a fight doesn't mean I'm going to leave you." she said trying to be reassuring.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I should get going. I was supposed to go to find my team to update them about Wilson." House said.

"Sure, but if that was where you were going why were you sleeping on Wilson's couch?" she asked.

"I was walking by and just peeked in because the light was on. Then I just laid down for a minute to give my leg a rest and I must have fallen asleep." he explained.

"You were tossing and turning. I didn't want to wake you up and startle you. What were you dreaming about?" she asked. She hoped that maybe she would get him to open up to her and say some of those things to her that she had heard him say while he was still asleep. But she figured that wasn't really like him and expected him just to deflect and say that he didn't know.

"Nothing. It was stupid." He said quietly.

"I don't think so. You can tell me anything. That is what people in relationships do. They share things, feelings even. Tell me about your dream please House." she pleaded.

"You are going to think I'm such a wuss" he replied.

"No, I won't. I promise. Just tell me." She said hopefully.

"I couldn't stop replaying what might have happened to Wilson before we found him over and over in my head. I am glad that you woke me up. My scenario didn't have such a happy ending for Wilson." he admitted sadly.

Lisa sat there stunned. She didn't know what to think. She certainly didn't know what to say.

"See I knew you would think that I was pathetic. " House offered hoping that she would say something. Anything that would make him not feel like he was a pathetic soft loser. She wasn't offering anything so he kept talking. "I guess I'm not ready for him to check out quite yet. I guess my rational brain hasn't told my subconscious yet that he is fine. Hopefully by tonight all parts of my brain will be on the same page again so I don't have to replay that one. Once was plenty." he said.

"You were dreaming about... Wilson?" was the best she could muster.

"Uh yeah, I thought that was pretty clear when I said I was dreaming about Wilson." House snarked.

"Are YOU okay? You are usually quicker than that." House said questioningly.

She was still trying to process. The dream had been about Wilson. House had meant those things for Wilson. Could that be? Could House be in love with Wilson? But they were both so obviously straight. Weren't they? Wilson had been married 3 times. House had been with Stacy then a string of hookers and had been pursuing her forever. Could it really be? She couldn't think straight. She had to get out of there quickly. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she had heard wrong. She didn't want House to know what she was thinking though. So she put on a good face and played the part of his girlfriend.

"No, I think it is sweet you were worried about your friend. You two have been through a lot over the years. I think he is going to be fine so hopefully you won't have the same dream tonight." She said putting on her best smile and patting him on the knee which earned her a pained expression from House.

"Are you OK to make it to your department now? Is your leg OK? Do you want me to go get you something for pain?" she asked gently.

"No, the pain is tolerable now. I don't need anything. I'll see you when you're done later?" he asked. Then added for good measure "It's pretty dark in here, I didn't get a good look at the girls. I'll have to catch up later." he said trying to act the way he thought she would expect him to.

"Sure. Now go find your team and let them know what is going on. They have a new patient, but I don't want you working the case until you are sure that you are OK." she said.

"I'm fine. I had a flare because I was in all sorts of weird positions and doing things I don't normally do last night. I feel better and I need to stay busy and have something else to think about. I'm fine mom, really. Now go back to work. We wouldn't want the hospital to explode or anything because you weren't at the helm."

"Ok. I'll see you later." She bent down and gave him a quick soft kiss on the lips and then turned around and headed out. She noticed that he pulled away from the kiss, but chalked it up to him being tired, in pain, worried about Wilson, or any combination of those. She left him, shut the door and was off. She closed the door behind her and walked around the corner where she was out of sight. She stopped and took some deep breaths and unclenched her fists which she hadn't realized that she had clenched in the first place. She told herself that she wasn't going to get too worked up. She must have heard wrong,or House was messing with her, but deep down she wasn't sure. As she sat down at her desk she thought more about it. It did make sense. The two of them did have a relationship that no one else could seem to understand. No matter how badly they treated each other they both stayed together and remained friends. Even after Amber, it seemed it was over for good, but somehow, they managed to piece it together and even make it stronger. Until Sam came. But now Sam is gone. Wilson is single again. Did Wilson feel the same way towards House? This was all too much to think about. It couldn't be. Sure there had been rumors around the hospital for years, but then there were other rumors about both of them that would negate the first rumor. She was just tired and not thinking straight she figured. She decided to let it be for now until House said something or she had something more concrete to go on. She would pretend nothing had happened. She was actually glad that she had a meeting to go to so that she could think about something else.

She picked up the phone and called House's cell before her meeting. She had completely forgotten why she had been looking for him in the first place. She was surprised when House picked up on the second ring. "House, Foreman is going to check Wilson over and make sure that he doesn't have any neurological or permanent spinal cord damage." she said to him, getting right to the point.

"And? I know he doesn't have any spinal cord damage. I saw him moving his toes and he would have noticed that when he woke up and was taking inventory. He would have noticed that when he was going through his list of ailments. It would have freaked him out. I am sure that he isn't remembering due to a temporary amnesia and will come around eventually and if not, maybe its best that he doesn't remember..." House said without even opening his eyes.

"The great House, world diagnostician would let a puzzle remain unsolved? Are you OK? You live for puzzles, but are willing to let this one slide to spare him? That doesn't add up." she said partly teasing, partly concerned, and partly trying to keep the other reason from pushing to the front of her mind.

"I'm just saying it may be traumatic for him to remember and he doesn't need that right now. He needs to get better. He doesn't need any set backs. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less." He said neutrally.

"Since you haven't been spending so much time together lately, I forget sometimes how protective you can be of Wilson." she said with a little smirk knowing that House wouldn't want his caring to be pointed out.

"It's not for him, it's for me. Do you have any idea how whiney Wilson can be? And do you know who he saves that for? Me. So if I can save myself from that I am going to do my best to try to. So if that is it, I am sure that you have a hospital to run and I have a date with the ducklings." House said.

"Fine. I will tell Foreman to stop by and update you when he is done. Are you going home tonight or are you going to stay here again?" she asked gently. She already knew the answer, but thought that she should ask. She knew that House wouldn't leave Wilson's side until he knew that he was OK. She knew that House was blaming himself. Although he didn't show his emotions readily she knew that he did actually have them and that they could be intense.

"Nah, I will stay again. The food isn't so bad and the commute to work is pretty short." he said with a smirk that was evident even over the phone.

"Alright. I'll catch up with you later." she said and she hung up and called Foreman to make sure that he was going to relay everything to House.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok - if you are following this from before, please go back and read chapter 9 because I had to do a rewrite of it and this chapter might not make sense. If this is your first read of the story then you won't be affected. Please go back and read chapter 9 as well as the note at the beginning before reading this chapter. Review and let me know what you think.

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Foreman walked in to Wilson's room to find him awake and propped up in bed. He looked like hell. He couldn't believe that he was here to do these tests on Wilson. It just didn't seem right, but he knew that he needed to be thorough. House would kill him if he missed something.

"Hey Wilson, how are you feeling?" Foreman asked.

"I've been better. I guess House sent you to check me out." Wilson stated.

"Actually it was Cuddy, but I'm sure House would have done it soon anyway. So anything that you have noticed that you want to tell me about? I guess we'll start with the basics and see what you remember and then we'll do the motor and sensory tests and as soon as you are all clear, I can have someone come in and get you washed up and ready. I wanted to clear you before they move you around too much as I figured your pain would probably spike and then as we both know, answers get more unreliable." Foreman explained.

"Alright, fire away. I can't remember anything after the wedding reception. Since I have woken up things are a little fuzzy. House said that he was telling me the same things over and over, but I'm pretty sure that is more due to the pain medication than anything else." Wilson admitted.

Foreman put him through the basic questions of who he was and where he was, the date, the president, remembering words that he told him, spelling things and identifying things. He did pretty good with all of it. His memory was good with the exception of the night in question. They were both pleased. Foreman tried to trigger some memories of the previous night, but Wilson was just drawing a blank.

Next Foreman got out his reflex hammer and his filaments to check sensation, reflexes and motor ability. He wasn't able to do much due to all of the injuries that Wilson had, but what he could get at seemed to be functioning OK. It appeared as though Wilson had been very lucky. Time would tell if any of the injuries were worse than they looked, but for now, Foreman was happy with what he saw. He was sure that Wilson's memory loss of the previous night was nothing to be worried about and that in time he would regain those memories.

He looked at the oncologist and realized that all of the testing had not only tired him out, but had certainly put him in some pain. They finished up their conversation and Foreman headed out to find Cuddy and House to share the good news about Wilson. On his way he stopped and asked the nurses to go in to assist Wilson and to get him some pain medication before they moved him as he was in a great amount of pain already.

House had been unable to go back to sleep after Cuddy had left. He got up slowly from the couch. Sure, his leg was better, but maybe not quite as good as he had led Cuddy to believe. He would be able to make it next door though. He slowly got to his feet. He gimped to the door. Then he pulled himself up and walked to the diagnostics office. He went to his office, turned on the lights and sat in his chair and heaved his leg up. No one would fault him for that or even think it strange. He waited. The pain wasn't subsiding. He tried a pillow under his knee and it helped a little. He laid back and waited for his team. Sure enough, within a few minute they were all in his office with questions.

Chase carefully eyed House. He was worried about the older doctor. He could see the pain etched around his mouth and eyes. He also saw the stiff way he was sitting. His leg was elevated which was normal, but there was a pillow under it as well. Chase knew that was a big clue. House would never do that unless the pain was bad. House noticed the examining look from Chase and did not appreciate it. Chase had been part of his team for quite a few years and had really started to be able to read House a little. Not to the degree that Wilson could, but he was more intuitive than anyone else on the team.

House started talking before the Austrailian could. "Foreman is checking out Wilson now. He's pretty beat up and he's a little confused, but I think he'll live to save more bald headed brats." he said. "Since Wilson is all sappy, I am sure he would want you guys to come and say hi. Once his pain is under control, I am sure that he is going to want to get out of here. He hates hospitals and he hates to be a bother to other people..." He said and he watched all of their faces take in the information and watch them struggle with what to say to him. They all mumbled their well wishes and empty offers of help. House continued right on to business. "So I hear we have a new case." he added.

"Well, ___we_ have a new case. Cuddy told us that we were not to let you near it until you were OK." Chase said.

"What exactly do you think is wrong with me? I walked in here on my own two, well two and a half feet, didn't I?" House snapped holding up his cane.

"Maybe she thought that you would want to be with Wilson more or something." Taub added.

"Well I'm not your babysitter, if you say you are fine, then you're fine. But you are also out of luck. It seems like the patient has cancer so we are pretty much done." Foreman said as he joined the group. "Pretty boring stuff."

"Are you sure that it is cancer? Maybe we need a consult from a certain boy wonder oncologist to confirm." House said.

"Are you serious? You are going to ask Wilson to consult on an open and shut case when he is a patient in the hospital?" Taub asked.

"Yeah, House that's low even for you. The man had surgery last night. He is in pain and on painkillers, do you really think that he needs to work on top of all that?" Foreman asked.

"I don't know. You are the neurologist. Did he pass all your tests?" House asked.

"Well, yes. Besides the memory of the incident, he seems to be neurologically intact." Foreman said.

"Then I think that is precisely what he needs. He needs something familiar. Something that gives him some sense of his identity. He's feeling pretty low right now and this is precisely what he needs. Let's go down there and ask him. Then you can all see for yourself that I am right." House said.

"Well I'm glad to hear that Wilson will be OK. I am sure that he has a rough road ahead of him. At least he has Sam to help him through it. Speaking of Sam. I haven't seen her since he was admitted. You did call her to let her know didn't you?" Chase asked accusingly.

"No, I didn't call the harpie. She dumped him right after the wedding. She's the reason that he was out drinking and why whatever happened to him happened. No I didn't call her. She doesn't deserve Wilson. She was never good enough for him. He deserved someone who wants him for him, someone that doesn't want to change him, someone who knows all of his quirks and loves him anyway. That was never her. Not the first time and not this time. He's better off without her." House spit out.

"Well he may not see things that way. He may be upset that he isn't going to have anyone there with him when he goes home. He is going to have a really rough road ahead of him and he is going to need all the support that he can get." Chase argued.

"He will have plenty of help." House snapped back.

"Well that's good to hear. I for one would be happy to help and I'm sure the other guys would be too." Chase volunteered.

The others shook their heads in agreement. There were very few people in the hospital that weren't fond of Wilson and House's team was especially so because of his ability to deal with House and make their lives easier.

"We can work something out. I know that is still some time away, but you are probably right that he is going to want to get out of here as soon as he can." Chase said.

"He's not going anywhere until he's better. If I have to I will handcuff him to the bed. He needs to get a stable bill of health before he can walk..well, roll out of here." House said.

"I should probably get back there. I am sure he has half of the floor nurses swooning over him already. I don't want him to get too comfortable with everyone waiting on him hand and foot you know." he said to Chase.

"Yeah, wouldn't want the injured patient being comfortable now would we?" Chase said with a chuckle at how transparent House was sometimes. Chase knew that House didn't often show emotion, but he knew that he genuinely cared for the oncologist and that House wanted to get back to Wilson so that he could be sure that he was alright.


	11. Chapter 11

With that most of the team headed toward Wilson's room. House turned to leave and faltered. Chase put his hand out to steady him. He was ready to have his hand slapped away or to have House berate him. He was surprised though when he felt the older doctor lean into him to gain his balance before heading toward the elevator where his team was waiting for him.

On the way, House had to stop several times to rest his leg. He of course made up crazy reasons for stopping, so most of the team just thought that he was being his normal obnoxious self. Except for Chase. He had been with House the longest and knew more of his little quirks than anyone. He also knew that House's pain was sometimes tied to his emotions. He knew that House would be worried about Wilson so he had anticipated more pain. He looked over at House and noticed a bead of sweat glistening on his forehead. He saw the white knuckles on his right hand where he was pressing the can so hard just to keep himself upright. He also noticed the pained expression in his eyes. He didn't know if he should, but decided to take the risk. If House didn't want his help, Chase thought that at least if he yelled at him that it would take House's attention off of Wilson and his pain and focus it on ridiculing him even if it were just for a few minutes. His mind was made up when house's leg buckled. Luckily for House he was close to the wall and the railing and was able to catch himself without anyone noticing. No one but Chase. Chase had always liked Wilson and thought that in his absence he would help look after House.

Chase dropped back with House and asked quietly "Did you hurt your leg last night when Wilson was hurt? I know you don't like to talk about our pain, but I've known you long enough to know when you are having more of it. Do you want me to go ahead with the rest of the team so that you can stop for a few minutes and rest? Do you want me to grab you a chair? What can I do?" Chase asked quickly trying to anticipate retaliation from House.

"Are you seriously talking to me about this? I am still capable of walking down the hall all by myself. When I need your help I will let you know?" House said through clenched teeth.

Chase didn't back off. He wasn't buying it.

House took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I just need a minute. Go ahead with the rest. I'll be there in a few minutes. If I'm not, come back for me." He didn't make eye contact, but he knew he wasn't going to make it and wanted to get the rest of them away.

Chase did as he was told and went with the others to see Wilson. He kept checking his watch. He didn't know where House was. He excused himself and told the team he was going to check on a test. No one bothered to question him even though they didn't have anything pending.

He walked down the hall and found House right where he had left him, but now he was clutching at the railing and holding on for all he was worth. Chase grabbed a chair and pushed it over to House. House collapsed into it and started rubbing his thigh. Sweat dripped off his forehead and he was panting and struggling to catch to his breath.

"What the hell took you so long? I thought you were going to have to scrape me off the floor soon." House yelled at him.

"I was giving you some time. Do you want some ibuprofen? I have some in my pocket. I grabbed it before we left the office when I noticed you were rubbing at your leg more than normal." he said quietly

"Stop watching me. It gives me the creeps like you are some sort of stalker or something. And yes, I'll take some pills." House said with his voice quieting toward the end.

House dry swallowed the mediation, took a deep breath and tried to get up. He was unsuccessful. Chase was on his feet and next to him.

"Don't touch me" House snapped. He pushed up again and this time got to his feet.

"I won't touch you unless you ask, but I WILL stay close to you in case your leg buckles again." Chase said.

They walked the rest of the way to Wilson's room very slowly and with Chase much closer than House would have allowed at any other time.

Chase and House walked into the room.

"So does boy wonder concur?" he asked as Wilson was looking at the scans.

"Hey House. Yes, I agree. Rachel probably could have caught this stage 4 pancreatic cancer. You didn't need a consult. You just wanted a reason to come gawk at me. He looked at the team. "You guys are welcome to visit whenever you want. You don't need to make up consults to do so, but hopefully I won't be on display for too long." Wilson said trying to remain optimistic.

They stayed for a while and chatted with Wilson until Foreman got a page saying that their patient was taking a turn for the worse. They all said their goodbyes with promises to come again and left House and Wilson alone. Chase asked if there was anything that they needed.

Wilson answered "No, I'm OK. I'll see you later. House may need lunch though. If you are going to the cafe could you bring him back a Ruben?"

"He is right here and he is not hungry." House snapped.

"Well then bring me one. It seems that whenever House says he is not hungry and I have food, my food seems to disappear." Wilson said good-naturedly and Chase left the two doctors alone.

"OK, what is going on? I saw you come in. I saw how you were leaning on your cane and I saw how close Chase was to you. What's wrong with your leg?" Wilson asked point blank once Chase and the others had left.

"Nothing is the matter. It hurts. It always hurts. It's been hurting more since last night. It buckled in the hall. I didn't fall or anything, but Chase got nervous. You know how mothering he can be. He's like a mini-you sometimes."

"Oh because that is so bad." Wilson said trying to cover the hurt in his voice.

"You don't look as much like crap as you did when I left" House said. Did they give you something better for pain after they cleaned you up?" House asked.

"Yeah, they gave me some good stuff. It's a lot, but seems to be doing a pretty good job. I'm hoping to get out of bed later for dinner. I don't want to get pneumonia or anything from laying in this bed. Other than the pain there's no reason i shouldn't get up." Wilson said nonchalantly.

"Your pain party, not mine. You have been lounging around all morning though." House smirked.

House I have multiple broken bones, too many bruises to count and more and apparatus than I want to think about, don't you think I was entitled to stay in bed today?" Wilson asked annoyed.

"You idiot. That was my point. You aren't going to get pneumonia after less than 1 day in bed. You may have a coronary from the pain though." House said trying to hide the concern in his voice.

"I want to get up. The quicker I start moving the quicker I can get home." Wilson said.

"Whatever. they must have you on the good stuff for you to not really understand what you are saying. How exactly do you think that you are going to get out of bed anyway?" House asked.

Wilson thought for a while and wasn't really sure. "I will leave that to the physical therapists to figure out." he explained.

Wilson rang his bell and told the nurse over the intercom that he would like to get out of bed so that he could eat sitting in a chair.

Please let me know what you think...I still have a few chapters written. Want to make sure I'm on the right track.


	12. Chapter 12

Alright...I know some of you have commented that Wilson wouldn't be getting out of bed so early, but I work with injured people all the time and unless there is a medical complication most patients are encouraged to get out of bed as soon as possible. The body is made to move, not lie in bed. So maybe things are done differently in different parts of the world, but where I am, I had a patient with these injuries that indeed get up and out of bed the next day with help and with pain. If you read you will see what I did with Wilson anyway. SO now that I have said that back to the story. Review if you are enjoying it. If you aren't - the solution is easy...you can stop reading it...This is for entertainment, if you are not entertained, then please move on.

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Wilson tried to sit up more in preparation for getting out of bed. House could hear the panic in Wilson's breathing. Then he heard the groan that Wilson was trying to keep in. He sat there and listened as Wilson tried to reposition himself in bed. Every grunt, moan and whimper being taken in and like someone stabbing him in the heart. House was clenching his fists and he didn't know how his fingernails hadn't drawn blood.

"So what do you want to watch while we wait?" House asked trying to keep it light.

"Whatever you want is fine. I'm not really in the mood for TV right now anyway. Why are you lying down?" Wilson asked as he noticed that the older doctor was lying in bed rubbing frantically at his thigh.

"View of the TV is better from here."

"I bet." Wilson said raising an eyebrow. "Have you taken your meds today? He asked

"Have you?" House shot back.

"Yep. I'm fully medicated. Still hurts like hell, but yes, I did take mine." Wilson said pretty proud of himself.

"Fine mom" House said as he rang for the nurse. He would never admit it, but he really needed something. The pain was getting unbearable. He was going to have to take it easy for the rest of the day.

They both sat there in a silence. They were both looking at the TV but neither was actually watching it. Cuddy walked in carrying the sandwiches that Chase was supposed to bring back.

"Hello there. I saw Chase in the cafeteria and told him I'd deliver these to you." Cuddy said as she put down one of the sandwiches in front of House. Chase had decided to get two to make sure that they both ate. Cuddy took the other sandwich, unwrapped it, cut it in half, opened the water bottle, put a straw in it and left it in front of Wilson. She noticed that he had been cleaned up and didn't want him to have to do that again so she decided to put a towel over him. She threw a glance at House daring him to say anything, but this time not a word. House tended to be remarkably quiet when he was eating. Cuddy didn't comment on the fact that House didn't even bother to sit up at the side of the bed to eat which Wilson knew spoke volumes to how House's leg was feeling.

"I would love to sit here and talk with my favorite two department heads, but I have a board meeting to get to. I'll check on you before I go." she said and left.

The nurse sent the physical therapist and an aide into the room. "Hello Dr. Wilson. I understand that you would like to get out of bed. You're pretty brave." the aide said.

"Or crazy" interjected House.

"First we have to figure out where you are going to sit. Do you want to sit in a recliner or in a wheelchair? I am going to recommend a recliner, but the choice is yours." she said.

"The recliner sounds fine." Wilson wasn't stupid. He knew the pain he was going to have with the movement and didn't need to be a martyr.

"Ok, well we are going to do this very slowly and in multiple steps. First things first. We need to get you to roll to your side. I am going to have you roll gently onto your left side so that you can use your right arm to help you I am going to help you also. We will need to move your leg at the same time and be careful of your neck. There are going to be 2 of us helping you to sit at the side of the bed. Do you understand? If you do we will start as soon as you are ready." The therapist said.

"Ready as I am going to be." Wilson said.

"OK on three." the therapist said.

On three the therapist and the aide helped guide Wilson to the edge of the bed. Wilson didn't realize what an effort and how painful that would be or how dizzy it was going to make him. His ribs were screaming at him and everything was aching. His right leg was casted in an almost straight position so he was not able to bend it over the side of the bed and the aide was holding it for him as he was not yet able to scoot forward far enough so that he could rest his feet on the floor.

Also your leg has been elevated since your surgery so you may also feel some additional pain when the blood starts to re-enter your leg and go into your foot. This is normal, but can be quite intense so we will lower your foot and have you scoot forward to rest your foot on the floor before we attempt to stand.

"Alright" Wilson ageed.

Wilson tried to scoot forward, but wasn't moving much. The therapists helped him by pulling with the draw sheet that was on the bed. They got to the edge of the bed and they told him that they were going to lower his foot.

"SHIT!" Wilson yelled when they lowered his leg and he felt the pain sear through it like someone was dragging a knife through his leg and gutting him like a fish. He began sweating profusely, he paled and thought that he was going to pass out from the pain, his heart rate monitor and BP monitor were blaring as his vitals went through the roof with his pain.

"Deep breaths Dr. Wilson, the pain will pass. It will be intense for a while when your leg is in the down position, but will get better with time. We are going to sit here until you feel better and think that you can go on. They had propped his foot on a pillow so that it wasn't even touching the tiled floor.

What seemed like a lifetime later, Wilson was a normal color, still obviously in pain, but breathing better and no alarms blaring.

Wilson sat at the edge of the bed for a few minutes trying to make small talk with the therapist and the aide as he felt bad keeping them when all he could do was sit at the edge of the bed. He had enough and they reversed the process to get him back into bed with them doing more work on the return trip as Wilson was wiped out.

The therapists concluded that Wilson had done enough for today and promised to be back the next day to attempt standing. Wilson felt defeated, but knew they were right and conceded.

"Who would have known that was going to be so hard?" Wilson said still slightly panting from the pain.

"ooh ooh, I know...me" said house. They all knew that House was all too familiar with pain, especially leg pain. Wilson didn't know what hurt the most. Maybe he should look for things that didn't hurt. He was sure that list would be much shorter.

With that the therapist told Wilson that today was a good start and they would try for more the next day, but pain would be their guide as to how much they would accomplish and how quickly.

Neither man got out of bed the rest of the day. There were visitors in and out and they talked with each, but didn't move. Evening approached and they were both tired. It was surprising since they hadn't really done anything. House's team had been in and after he sufficiently grilled them about the new patient and it seemed like they had it under control he put it out of his mind. They knew where he was if they needed him, but they were big ducklings now and it was time that they stood on their own for a few days.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry, not a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but needed to fill in some things to move it along a little. Hope you still enjoy it.

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Cuddy had come in to say goodnight. The next few days and weeks passed somewhat in the same fashion. Wilson was out of it a lot due to pain medication and from sheer exhaustion. Wilson was working diligently with the therapists at the hospital and was making slow steady progress. House's team consulted with him about patients, but most of them had been boring and easy to solve so they hadn't needed too much input from him. House would go to his office and would leave Wilson's room for longer periods of time. He had gone to his apartment and he had gone to the loft and gotten Wilson more clothes and toiletries and things that he needed. House's leg was feeling better as he had been off of it. He wasn't as worried as he was spending enough time with Wilson and he knew Wilson was going to be OK. He oversaw all of Wilson's medical care and knew everything that was going on with him. He knew that Wilson was making good progress and was doing as well as could be hoped for in his situation.

House's relationship with Cuddy continued to get strained. She understood his need to be with his friend, but as Wilson improved she hoped that House would be spending more time with her and Rachel and less time with Wilson especially while he was at the hospital and being taken care of. Initially, she had given him all the room that he had needed. She was there for him in the background helping as she could, but she wanted her boyfriend back. Even though House had stopped sleeping in Wilson's room, he hadn't returned to her bed. Hell, he hadn't even returned to his apartment. He had gone back to the loft. He was staying at Wilson's. House had told her it was so that he could get things in order for when Wilson returned, but Cuddy knew better. Cuddy knew that Wilson's apartment was always in order. The only time it wasn't was when House had been sharing it with him. She hoped that House hadn't been making things worse while he was there. Most of all, she just wanted to spend some time together. Their lunch dates were a thing of the past. If House was at work, he was working and if he wasn't working he was with Wilson. If he wasn't with Wilson he was at Wilson's loft. It was infuriating, but Cuddy knew there was no way to call him on it without being a bitch. While she had initially felt bad about what had happened that night to Wilson and that House hadn't been there for him because she was on her way over, the guilt had faded. It was replaced with what she thought was a more rational thought. They were all adults. House and Wilson's relationship had been dysfunctional for a long time. Wilson and House should be able to deal with their own problems and not need to be totally dependent on the other one. At some point they were going to have to discuss this. They were going to have to discuss the dream and what she had overheard. She was not looking forward to that discussion, but if they were going to survive as a couple they needed to deal with it.

It was heartbreaking for House to watch as Wilson went through the grueling pain as he made it through his routine day after day. After the first time that they got Wilson out of bed and into the chair, House was so abusive to the staff because of the pain that Wilson was in that Cuddy had actually left orders that he was not to be in the room when they were getting Wilson up. Wilson had stopped trying to hide his pain from House. Either he no longer cared if the diagnostician knew about his pain or he had so much he could no longer hide it. Either way it was painful for House to watch. Every day, Wilson's medical status continued to improve. It was coming closer to the time that Wilson would be discharged as he was now medically stable and no longer needed to be in a hospital. The cut on his head was almost healed, the bruises had faded, his wrist was healing well and in the brace, but didn't throb anymore like it had initially. He had gotten his arm out of the sling and was now doing some range of motion with it in therapy. It wasn't strong enough to allow him to utilize crutches yet, but it was getting closer everyday. His neck still gave him pain and he still had the brace, but he had learned to work around it. He had learned how to position his body when he was eating so that he didn't wear his food. The leg was getting better, but they both knew that would be another story. A long story. Wilson had a full leg cast on the leg from the top of his thigh all the way to his foot. He kept it propped up whenever he was in bed. He had excruciating pain anytime it was down for any period of time. It was uncomfortable and heavy, but the cast was his for at least the near future.

That evening House pulled up a chair to Wilson's bedside. He stared out blankly trying to look anywhere but at Wilson.

"Wilson, I think we should talk." he said.

Wilson knew that wasn't good. He could see House was uncomfortable, so whatever it was that House wanted to talk about Wilson was pretty sure he didn't want to hear.


	14. Chapter 14

OK here is the next update. I am not sure if anyone is even reading it anymore. I have barely gotten any reviews. Well I hope those of you that are still reading are enjoying it. I do plan on finishing it either way. I will be away for the weekend so I won't be able to update until I come back. Enjoy until then.

"Wilson, I'm moving back in with you." House said.

"OK." Wilson replied relieved that this was what House wanted to talk about and not something else.

"OK?" House asked. "That's all you are going to say about it. You thew me out and now I tell you, not ask you, but tell you that I am going to move back in and you just say OK?" House said.

"Yes, I said OK. I am obviously going to need help and you are the only one that has been here for me. You have been here everyday House. I have noticed. Even when you weren't here yourself, I know that you arranged for things and for people to be here with me. I know House." Wilson said quietly.

"Now I just have to tell Cuddy." House said with a sigh.

"Is she going to be OK with it?" Wilson asked.

"Probably not. Actually I am sure that she won't be, but it's OK." House said.

"What do you mean it's OK?" Wilson yelled. "You love her. She might break up with you. I won't be responsible for that. I won't let you do that for me." Wilson said.

"Wilson, I may love her and I probably always will, but I am not IN love with her. I'm not sure that I ever was actually. She wants me to change. She doesn't love ME, she loves the idea of who she thinks I can be and I am tired of trying to be that person. Plus I have more important things to deal with right now... My best friend needs me." he said quietly.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to regret this decision and hate me for it. I can hire help House. It's too much for you to do anyway." Wilson said.

"Yes Wilson I'm sure. I didn't just decide this today. This thing with Cuddy has been going bad for a while. I just chose not to see it." House admitted.

"She's going to be pissed." Wilson said.

"Yep, clinic duty until I retire no doubt." House said. "But it's worth it." he added.

"I hope you still think that when you are doing mine too since it seems like it will be a while before I get back to work." Wilson said sadly almost thinking that he might actual miss clinic duty.

"So it's settled. I will move in my stuff tomorrow." House said with a grin.

"House, you've already moved in haven't you?" Wilson asked knowingly.

"Yep" House said. "I've been moving in slowly over the past few weeks. I knew you wouldn't say no." House said with that goofy half-grin of his.

"Figures." Wilson said returning his grin.

"OK, now that is settled, I have to go talk to Cuddy. I'll see you tomorrow Wilson." House said.

"No. Call me tonight. I want to know what happens." Wilson settled on keeping the ..._and I want to make sure that you are OK_ to himself.

House drove to Cuddy's knowing that he was in for a fight. He drove up, walked to the front door, took a deep breath and knocked.

"House! What are you doing here?" she said excitedly as she gestured for him to come in and have a seat on the couch.

"Hi Lisa. Listen I think we should talk." House said.

Lisa knew that tone. House was being no nonsense. There wasn't the slightest bit of humor or snark in his voice.

Lisa knew that was not good.

She sat down next to him and put her gently on his leg. "Ok, so what is this about?" she asked.

"I'm moving in with Wilson." he said matter of factly.

There was a long moment of silence. Neither of them said anything. House had his head rested on his cane, Lisa was sitting cross-legged on the couch with her eyes closed trying to gather her thoughts. She had known that this was coming. She had hoped that it wouldn't, but ever since she overheard that nightmare that House had after Wilson's accident she knew deep down that he was never really going to be hers. Part of his heart was with Wilson and always would be and it appeared as though that piece had gotten bigger and was pushing out the piece that was hers. They had some bond that kept them coming back to each other no matter what odds were thrown at them. They just were. Like death and taxes there was House and Wilson. There was no sense in trying to fight it. She had pushed House away from Wilson initially with offers of sex, and while she knew that he was happy, she also knew that he was not IN love. Not the way she wanted someone to be in love with her. Not how it had been with Lucas. She knew that she deserved more. She had owed it to herself and to him to give it a try and they had. She did miss his friendship though and she hoped that they could salvage that out of this mess. They were all good friends at one point. She hoped that they could remain that way. She knew it would be up to her. She would have to take the high road if there was any chance for them. So she did. She swallowed everything in her heart that told her to fight for him and listened to her brain. She hadn't gotten where she was in life by being stupid after all.

"OK." she said with a sigh.

"OK? What the hell is going on today? Why is everyone just OK with everything that I say? Is something going on that I should know about?" he was completely flustered. He had anticipated a fight.

"Well not OK then. Would it really have made a difference what I said? Would you have changed your mind. If I fought for you would the outcome be any different?" she asked.

"Well...no. Wilson needs me and he is my friend and I can't turn my back on him. It is going to be hard enough to be there to care for him and still work. If we are really honest with each other this hasn't been working for a while." he said. Although he didn't really want to fight, he had to admit that he was a little hurt that she would let go of their relationship so easily.

"House, did you ever really love me?" she asked. She wasn't sure really. She knew that they were good in bed together, but that she had never doubted. The sexual tension between them had been obvious for years. But she was not really sure whether he really loved her.

"Cuddy...Lisa...Yes. I did love you. I do love you. You will always be a part of my life and you will always have a place in my heart, but I do not think that I an IN love with you. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for. I think this is the first time you have really been honest with me and with yourself."

There was another uncomfortable silence before lisa asked THE question. She knew she shouldn't, but some part of her had to. She had to know. She needed to hear the real reason that he was leaving her. He was going to make him say it. She met his blue eyes and held his gaze and asked "What I want to know House is do you love him? Are you IN love with Wilson?"


	15. Chapter 15

Alright, I know it has been a while. I apologize. Like I said before, it's frustrating that there are so few reviews, but to those of you who did review, thank you very much. I really do appreciate it. They do make a difference. I apologize for any errors, it is late, but if I don't put this out, I may never do it...

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"What?" he choked. House didn't know how to answer that. Of course he would normally deny it or ignore it or deflect, but today was different. Today he had just ended what he had previously hoped would be the last relationship of his life. Somehow though he wasn't all that upset. He knew that she knew and she knew that he knew she knew. Or something like that. Something that made sense in the scary place that was House's brain. House was tired of the games and pretending. That was how Wilson had gotten into this trouble in the first place. Wilson and Sam were pretending. House and Cuddy were playing games. Neither of them got anywhere and it got them nothing but hurt and pain. He was tired of it all. He just wanted to be with Wilson.

"Yes...yes...I think" he finally answered.

"Does he know?" she asked.

"No, but I am going to tell him later today or maybe in the morning." House said looking at his watch.

"So how did you know?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure. I became suspicious that day when I found you laying on the couch in Wilson's office after you had that nightmare. I asked you about it and you told me what it was about, but only some of it. You were also talking in your sleep. It was just little phrases, but I got the idea. You said "I love you, I can't live without you and I need you. I thought that you were talking about me, but then you told me the dream was about Wilson. I didn't want to believe it, but the signs were all there. I watched you for a while, but I guess I just didn't want to see it. I kept hoping that we could make it work. All these years, it just seemed like we were destined to be together. I guess we were wrong." she admitted sadly.

"I'm sorry Lisa." House said in a voice that was barely audible.

"I know how hard that was for you House. Thank you. I know that you didn't ask for this, but really you two are the ones who were destined to be together. I hope that things work out. Really I do House. I do want you to be happy." she said honestly.

"I should be going. It's getting late." House said as he got up and walked to the door leaning on his cane.

House drove home, home to Wilson and his loft. He thought about how things had gone. He never imagined that he would be where he was right now. He had imagined how this would go and in every possible scenario, these options had never been involved.

Lisa closed the door behind him and sank to the floor. She cried whole-heartedly. She cried for the relationship that was lost with House. She cried for the friendship that would never be the same. She cried that House was going to be in loving relationship and she was not. She cried for the way things had worked out in her personal life and the direction she thought her life would be going in. She finally stood up, wiped her eyes to remove the traces of tears, gathered herself and walked to her bedroom. She passed Rachel's room on her way and smiled. Everything may not have worked out how she had thought, but some things had worked out even better.

House entered the loft, stripped on his walk to the bedroom and laid down in his bed. He remembered that he was supposed to call Wilson to tell him what had happened. He picked up his phone and pressed the first speed dial button and waited for Wilson to answer.

It took Wilson a while to answer. Of course his cell phone was not in a spot that was easy to get to. Of course it was almost the middle of the night and of course it was House. He thought with a smile.

"Hey House." Wilson said trying his best to mask the pain that he was feeling. Even over the phone, House would be able to detect it.

"Hey yourself." he said cautiously. He was listening for any hint of something being wrong.

"So? Are you OK?" Wilson asked.

"Yep." House said.

"And Cuddy?" He asked. He realized that House was not going to make this easy. Then again, when did he ever make anything easy. It was nice to be talking again like this. Not about injuries or pain, but just talking. It was reminiscent of the good old days when their relationship had been more simple. When it was just them, when no one else was involved. No wives, no girlfriends and the two of them were OK with just being them without having to question it. It just was.

"She will be fine. She understood." House said.

Wilson was tired. He wanted to go to sleep. There was nothing in House's voice that hinted that he was lying. There was nothing indicating that there was anything to be worried about. They made plans for the next day and for Wilson's discharge and hung up. There was a lot unspoken during this conversation, but that was fine. Not everything needed to be spoken outloud.

They hung up and each settled down into their beds for a night of restless sleep. Wilson closed his eyes. He was dreaming within minutes. He started tossing and turning. He was back at the accident that had started all of this. He saw the light, he heard the noise. He was panting and sweating. He laid back in his bed trying to calm himself. It was all so real like he was back there again. He doubted he would be getting much sleep tonight...

Thanks and let me know what you think...


	16. Chapter 16

This got away from me. It ended up much longer than I expected. I was going to make it into two chapters, but decided to just leave it as one longer one. Hope that is OK. It took me longer to get to where I was going with this. NO beta so I hope there aren't too many errors and if there are that you can forgive them. I hope that some of you will review.

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House was tossing and turning. His leg was definitely giving him a run for his money. He was up anyway worrying about talking to Wilson. He didn't know why he should be worried. They had been friends for a long time and they had weathered a lot together. He was hoping no matter what the outcome, that they would be ok, but there was a little part of him that wasn't sure. That little part of him that knew that he didn't deserve Wilson. That little part that told him that Wilson would never want to be saddled down with him and all the baggage that he brought. He rubbed frantically along the length of his thigh trying to quiet the irritated muscles. He was up and walking his normal route around the loft that he did when he was upset. He knew trying to sleep was useless for a couple of reasons, but he wanted a clear head when he talked with Wilson in the morning. He laid down on the couch and propped the leg gently on a pillow and wrapped the heating pad around it. He swallowed a few ibuprofen and flicked on the TV. He found an old monster truck competition and soon was relaxing and remembering the last one of those that he had dragged Wilson to. Eventually his body gave in and allowed him some rest.

He woke up with the need to use the bathroom. He looked at the clock. It was early, but not so early that he needed to go back to sleep necessarily. He looked around at the loft and was trying to think if there was anything else that Wilson would need for his homecoming this week. House had arranged for a hospital bed, had some adaptations made in the bathroom to make things easier for him as well as had cleaned up anything that may pose a fall risk to Wilson on crutches or using a walker once he actually got to use either. He made sure paths were wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair for when Wilson was having a bad day and when he initially came home. He had gotten groceries delivered with all of Wilson's favorite foods and basic pantry items delivered and the shelves were stocked. The milk was in the refrigerator and not on the door like Wilson liked it. There was beer and House had picked up Wilson's medication already and had it in the medicine cabinet. He didn't want to have to stop on the way home with Wilson since he knew that just getting home was going to be grueling for him. He made sure that they had plenty of ice packs and had picked up an extra heating pad as well so they would each have one. He kept searching his mind trying to think of anything that he may have forgotten. This was an easier thing to think about rather than what he really needed to be thinking about which was how he really felt about him and more importantly how he was going to tell him.

Wilson laid in his bed thinking about his dream. He hadn't remembered everything, but he had a lot of details that were filling in the blanks in his mind. He wanted to remember everything and then he would decide what or if he was going to tell House. He hoped that he would eventually remember everything, but at the same time wasn't sure that he wanted to. He tried to fall asleep, but it wasn't coming easy. Instead his thoughts drifted to what the days ahead were going to entail. He was going home to the loft and House would be there to help him, but would it be enough. Could he really count on House? Was House going to be able to actually stay by his side and give him the support and help that he was going to need? Physically, would House's leg let him help him? Emotionally? Wilson pretty much figured that he was on his own with that one. He had always been the more emotional one of the pair and he had come to expect certain things from House, but emotional support was not usually one of those things. House showed Wilson that he cared, but not with words usually. When Wilson was upset he didn't expect words of comfort from House. A beer and a night of distraction, yes. Wilson knew that he was tough, but wasn't naive enough to think that his return home was going to be easy for either of them.

House got dressed and ready for work. He drove his car into the parking lot and entered the hospital. He went straight to Wilson's room as he had everyday since the accident. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. His breath hitched. He peeked in expecting to see Wilson sleeping peacefully in his bed as he did most mornings when he came in, even the days he was later than usual. Today, however, Wilson was sitting up in bed fully awake. The TV was on, but it was obvious that he wasn't really watching it.

House's internal alarms went off and he was at Wilson's side mentally doing a differential diagnosis on him before he started talking. "What are you doing up so early Wilson?"

Wilson looked up at the clock having no idea what time it actually was and said to House "I could probably ask you the same thing." Wilson retaliated.

"Well I asked you first." House said.

"AND?" Wilson challenged.

"And that means that I get my answer first." he said.

"I just woke up. Couldn't go back to sleep. Thinking about things." he said.

"What kind of things?" House wanted to know.

"Nothing in particular" Wilson said looking away from House.

"Liar. After all these years do you really think that you can lie to me?" House asked.

"Everyone lies, remember." Wilson shot back. He was annoyed that House was always right.

"Yes, but everyone usually has a reason for lying. What's yours?" House asked.

"House, just drop it. OK? I'm tired and not in the mood to argue with you about nothing." Wilson said.

"Yeah, cause that's going to happen." House said sarcastically.

"Fine, I was thinking about when I get out of here." Wilson said, only half lying.

"Yeah, I bet." House said.

"Fine. Don't you have some work to do or a team to bug or something?" Wilson asked.

"Yeah, but not for a while. I was hoping that we could talk later. Maybe tonight when I'm done." House said.

"Why don't you just talk to me now?" Wilson asked. He knew what House was doing and he didn't want to play. If House wanted to talk to him, he just wished he would do it.

"It's not the right time. What do you say I bring some Chinese...I'll use your credit card of course so you don't have to feel bad about me picking up the tab." he said.

"Sounds fine House." Wilson conceded knowing that House wasn't going to talk until House wanted to talk.

With that House turned and left.

Wilson rang his bell to get someone to help him get out of bed and ready for the day. He as actually looking forward to today's therapy session as they were going to let him try to use a walker or crutches to see if he could get some more mobility. That would give him a better chance of being able to survive with House.

House walked off toward the diagnostic department to see if his team was there. They were always there before him, so he wasn't even exactly sure what time they came in. It wasn't like his fellows had real hours anyway. Sometimes they were there through the night or for several days with very little time off. He was surprised to only find Chase when he walked in. On the other hand he was also glad because he was the one that he had wanted to talk to.

"Hey wombat. You're here early aren't you?" House asked.

"Actually, I am always here at this time. It's you that is early. To what do we owe this appearance?" he asked.

"I came to check on Wilson." House said.

"How's he doing. It looks like he's been progressing as well as anyone could have hoped." Chase commented.

"Yeah, he's a regular walking poster boy for good health and recovery." House said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean that, I just..."Chase said.

House cut him off. "Don't hurt yourself. I knew what you meant...He is doing better and they are talking about sending him home soon. There was talk of a rehab facility, but Wilson wouldn't hear anything of it. I'm going to move in with him to help him and am going to be working from home for a while until he is on his feet...well so to speak." They both knew it was a long road until Wilson was fully using that leg again. House just stood there and waited. He didn't know how to ask Chase if he was serious about his offer to help with Wilson once he was released. House never asked anyone for help if he could at all avoid it. This however, wasn't help for him, technically it was help for Wilson. House wasn't naive enough to think that he could really do it all himself and he really didn't want to hire anyone. He trusted his team and so did Wilson and he hoped that they would still be willing to do it.

Chase sensed that House had more to say, but there was a tension in the room. He figured he would let House off the hook. "House I meant what I said a while ago. I am still willing to help you guys out. I am pretty sure everyone else would as well. I don't want to speak for them, but I am sure that they will. Do you want us to work out a schedule or something?" he asked.

House didn't say anything. He was shocked at how readily they all wanted to help Wilson. When he had his infarction he only had Wilson. Everyone else left. He didn't have his team back then, but even if he had, he was pretty sure they wouldn't be signing up to help him unless they were paid or threatened somehow. That made it even more important that he got Wilson well again so that things could go back to the way they were in the good old days when Wilson always had his back. If something happened to House and he was in a position like Wilson was, he thought that he would get help just because people would feel bad for Wilson and want to help him take care of the evil House.

House shot Chase a look of thanks, but only said "We'll see how it goes. I don't want to overwhelm him if he doesn't need it. I'll let you know when he's being discharged and you can come the first night." It was a statement, but Chase knew it was as close to asking as House was going to get.

"Sure. Just let me know." Chase said.

With that House turned and went to his own office. He went to his desk and sat in his chair. He rubbed at his leg. Damned if it wasn't acting up again.

Wilson got washed and dressed with help from an aide. He had scrub pants on since getting regular pants over the monstrosity that was a cast on his leg was difficult. Even sweat pants were hard and the cast was hot so the sweat pants on top of that was too much. Thankfully the incision from the surgery for the internal bleeding had closed because that had made wearing any type of waist band painful. He was moving his shoulder a little more now and was able to get his own shirt on as long as the neck was wide enough to make it over the neck brace. His pants and anything below the waist was hard though since he couldn't bend his knee he couldn't reach his feet. Once things were slipped over his feet and brought up to knee level he could usually get them up the rest of the way depending on what kind of pain day it was and mornings after his medication were always better than later in the day when he was tired. Then a second aide came in and the two of them helped him into his wheelchair to go to therapy.

He was ready to wheel himself to therapy which was a difficult endeavor on its own since he still had the brace on his wrist and overuse tended to tire it. The therapist showed up at his door though and gave him a ride. She explained that she didn't want him to be too tired to try the walker or crutches. Wilson figured that was good logic and smiled as she pushed him to the Physical Therapy gym. There was a pair of crutches and a walker with some sort of attachment on it leaning against the parallel bars. Wilson remembered being in those exact bars with House after his infarction. He remembered the pain and the frustration that those bars had brought his friend. He took a deep breath anticipating what was to come.

"We start in these and see how it goes, then we can see if we can use one of those instead" she said as she pointed to the walker and the crutches. She wheeled him into the bars and locked his wheelchair before crawling under the bars herself and slipping a belt around his waist. A second person got behind the wheelchair to move it along and to provide assistance if needed. She asked Wilson to stand up. He managed to unsteadily get to his feet. He was upright. He was keeping his leg off the ground. The therapist was surprised that he had as much upper body strength as he did with what he had been through with his shoulder and with his wrist still being braced and painful. She told him that they were going to take a few hopping steps and that he needed to keep his foot off the ground. He went a few hops with her help and then she sat him down and wheeled him out of the bars.

"How does everything feel and I need you to be honest. I know that you want to get moving, but if you hide things from me you could re-injure yourself." she explained.

"The shoulder is a little achy, but the wrist hurts. You don't really want to know about the leg do you?" he responded truthfully.

"Achy is ok, the wrist hurting we can work around and unless the leg pain is new or different from normal, it's ok." she said.

"Nope not new or different, just the same as usual maybe on the higher side of usual from being down so long." he answered.

"Alright, well we are going to try the walker then because I think it will provide support, but give you a little more mobility and we can use a platform attachment so that you don't have to put the pressure through your wrist but can distribute it on the whole forearm. Let's take a break for a few minutes and then we'll try that. Sound good?" she asked.

"Yeah, sounds ok." Wilson sat for a few minutes and got his breath back. The pain was dissipating now that his leg was elevated in the wheelchair again.

She got everything ready and her partner was back. Wilson got up onto his feet. She showed him how to position his arm on the platform and demonstrated how to hop using the walked. It was a lot of work, but he was able to go 5 feet or so with not too much help. She again asked him about the pain.

"This hurt my wrist much less and the shoulder still seems to be OK. I don't think that I would be able to do too much though.

He rested again and then they worked on going from his wheelchair to other surfaces such as another chair or the mat. He was tired. Once he got on the mat the therapist laid him down comfortable and then put ice on his shoulder and wrist and let him rest for a few minutes before he transferred back to the wheelchair. He would come back in the afternoon to work on the walking and the transfers again, but she was very happy with the progress that he had showed.

House went to Wilson's room for lunch. He was going to bring him to the cafeteria for lunch. Instead when he got there he found the younger man sound asleep in his bed. He could see the lines of pain on his face. He decided not to wake him. Instead he went to the cafeteria and bought lunch for himself and Wilson. He left it on his bedside table with a note.

_Don't want you to be a bag of bones when you go home. Don't worry it was your treat. _

House stopped at the nurse's desk and demanded to know why Wilson looked like he was in pain and was being so deeply asleep. He wanted to know what he had taken for pain. House knew that Wilson had been starting to taper some of the medication. He was still on quite a bit, but it was much less than he had been on initially. The nurse explained that he had started some gait training in therapy that morning and that he would be having another session that afternoon. Now House understood why Wilson was agitated that he wanted to talk that evening. Wilson knew he was starting this today and knew the consequences of it. He knew he would be in more pain and therefore need more medication and it would be harder for him to be awake to talk to House. _Damn, why couldn't he just have said something? I would have understood, wouldn't I? I after all understand pain and what it can do to you and that I wouldn't want him to talk to me when he was in that much pain. He knows that. Doesn't he?_

House walked back to his office annoyed with his friend.

Wilson woke up and found the sandwich and note. He smiled. House did care. He just had very different ways of showing it. He ate the whole sandwich which was of course his favorite ruben sandwich made just the way he liked it and that only House knew. The chips were suspiciously missing. It almost felt like the old days when they would have lunch together and House would steal his chips. He smiled as he remembered then was saddened when he realized it would still be a while before they were doing that again.

Wilson had his second round of therapy in the afternoon. It was a shorter session and they worked more on the transfers than the walking. He was actually doing ok with them. He was getting to his feet better and was able to take the couple of hopping steps to the next surface. It however was taking everything that he had to do it. He was exhausted and disgusted at how little it took to completely wipe him out. After the session he returned to his room and took some more medicine. He was out cold in a little while.

This time House brought Chinese. Wilson was in bed. but awake when House came back this time.

"You're here." Wilson said questioningly. He hadn't been sure if House would actually show up especially since he had already been by at lunch and left him a sandwich.

"I said I was coming. I brought the Chinese." House said.

"Thanks." Wilson said.

It was quiet in the room for a while when they were eating. House picked up all the garbage and tossed in the trash. Wilson was looking more pale by the minute. He was hurting and was more than a little past the time he should have taken his next pain medication, but he wanted to be awake for House. They watched a little TV. House was rubbing his leg and noticed the expression on Wilson's face and the way he was trying to get comfortable without success.

House got up wordlessly and grabbed some pillows. He used them to support Wilson's shoulder, put one under his arm and a few under his leg then put up the head of the bed and positioned the pillows better for him around his neck. House was gentle and efficient with his movements. He went out to the nurse's station and told them that he needed some ice packs and Wilson needed his medication. He went back and sat by Wilson.

"Thanks." Wilson said.

House just nodded at him.

"They are bringing you your medication in a few minutes." House said.

"I don't need it yet. Let's talk first." Wilson said.

"You do need it." House countered.

"I won't take it until after we talk." Wilson said. He knew whatever House had to say to him was important enough for him to set a time to do so and actually show up at that time. Well a little late, but on time according to House time.

"Your pain party, not mine." he said as he popped a few of his own ibuprofen.

The nurse walked in with the ice packs and the medication.

"You can just leave those on the table if you don't mind." Wilson said.

It was a newer nurse. "We don't usually leave medication. Especially not strong stuff like this." she said nervously.

"I am Dr. House. I am also his doctor. I can see that he takes his medication appropriately." he said leaving no room for further argument.

She left quickly with a comment that they were to call if they needed anything further.

House got up and put the ice packs in position. Then he picked up the pills.

"House I am not taking those until we talk." Wilson said.

"You are an idiot." House said as he walked over and shut and locked the door. He didn't want to be disturbed.

"House. I am not taking them." Wilson said standing his ground, but a little nervous that House had closed the door.

"Fine. Take the pills and I will talk or I will leave here and you will never know why I was here in the first place." House countered.

Wilson took the pills knowing that there was no winning a stubbornness contest with House.

House waited a few minutes. They were just staring at each other uncomfortably. This was one of the hardest things that he had ever done. He could be ruining the best relationship that he had ever had for an unknown risk, but then again when did House ever take the safe path.

"I broke up with Cuddy." he said.

"That's the big revelation? I waited for my pain pills for that?" Wilson yawned. "I told you that was going to happen. I kind of figured that from our conversation last night anyway." he continued as his eyes were getting heavy.

"You didn't let me finish." House started.

Wilson shut his mouth and waited a few long moments for House to start talking.

"I broke up with Cuddy because I have feelings for someone else" House said.

"What? I haven't seen you with anyone. You haven't mentioned anyone. No one on your team has mentioned anyone. This doesn't make sense. Is it someone I know." Wilson asked as he battled to fight the sleep that was pulling him under and he was trying to make sense out of what House had just told him.

"Yep." House answered.

"Who House...who is it...Just tell me..."Wilson pleaded, but the pain medication was too strong and it pulled him under. His breathing evened out and he was asleep.

"It's you Wilson. It's always been you." House whispered and he walked out the door.


End file.
